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Digital Video Recorders

A digital video recorder (DVR) or personal video recorder (PVR) is a device that records video in a digital format to a disk drive or other medium. The term includes stand-alone set-top boxes and software for personal computers which enables video capture and playback to and from disk.

-Wikipedia

The two most important features of DVR’s are:

1) The ability to watch something whenever you want to.

Consumers were first able to do this with the VCR but DVR’s make the recording process much easier. With a couple of buttons pushed on a remote, a DVR owner can automatically record the entire season of a show. In addition, DVR’s can record two shows simultaneously while watching a third, something previously impossible with a single VCR. To many people with busy schedules, using a DVR is the only way they can watch certain shows.

2) The ability to fast forward through commercials. Many users will start watching a show 15-20 minutes after it starts in order to do this.

Some secondary features include the ability to pause and rewind live TV.

TIVO, a stand alone DVR maker, offers what are probably the most versatile and sophisticated ways of selecting shows to record. TIVO users can search a database of shows by actor, director, genre, title, or keyword and have their TIVO box record the results of their queries.

The increasing popularity of dvr’s creates a problem for both networks and advertisers. Nielsen ratings now include the number of people who recorded a show on a DVR in addition to the live viewership. A compromise was recently negotiated between advertisers and networks so that ad rates are based on the number of people that viewed the commercial live, plus the number that saw it on DVR in the three days after the show aired. Still, the concern remains that the more people watch a show using a DVR, the fewer the ads will be seen.

One trend appears to be that the market for DVR's will be taken over by cable providers who offer DVR's built into the set top cable box. Time Warner cable offers many of TIVO's features as part of a package that includes digital cable.