7 Out of 10 People who Own a DVR Say They Can't Live Without It According to NDS Survey

According to the NDS DVR Report, an international survey of over 1,000 DVR owners:

LONDON, UK — More than 70% of DVR owners say that they cannot live without their DVR, according to a new survey commissioned by NDS Group (NASDAQ: NNDS), the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV.

NDS is the world leader in DVR technology. Over 18 pay-TV operators located all over the world have chosen NDS solutions to bring the unique capabilities and flexibility of the DVR to their subscribers, and there are more than 13.1 million NDS-powered DVRs in households around the world today.

NDS wanted to know how DVRs are changing people’s lives. The statistics and trends detailed in the NDS DVR Report demonstrate the importance of the DVR’s role in the lives of consumers of all ages.

NDS XTV™ is a complete end-to-end solution with built-in VideoGuard® conditional access. It is the only DVR solution that has been designed from the ground up to fit the requirements of pay-TV operators worldwide to build and maintain subscriber satisfaction, increase ARPU and reduce churn. NDS’ unique and patented RASP (Random Access to Scrambled Content Protocol) technology enables encrypted channels to be recorded and stored on the disk and provides heightened security by ensuring that decryption and conditional access (CA) business controls take place at the time of viewing, rather than at the time of recording. XTV deployments offer simultaneous recording of different channels, secure and addressable delivery of over the air “remote recording” commands and environmental power management, including an auto-standby feature.

According to the survey, which asked respondents to rank relative importance of a list of household appliances, apart from the washing machine and the microwave oven, no other household item was deemed more essential than the DVR in today’s homes. Intriguingly, Italians surveyed also ranked the hairdryer higher than a DVR. And when it comes to essential technology gadgets, the DVR is second only to the mobile phone as the item they can’t live without. Intriguingly, the vast majority of respondents would rather give up their landline phone, dishwasher, radio and MP3 player than their DVR.

The survey also reveals that over 60% of DVR owners with a partner felt that having a DVR had improved their relationship. In the US, UK and Australia, respondents attributed this improvement to having the ability to watch their own programmes while sharing their favourites with each other. Surveyed Italians feel that their improved relationship happiness is due to the DVR allowing them to plan their evening’s viewing better.

More than three quarters of DVR owners with families in the US, Italy and Australia also feel that having a DVR has improved their family relationships, eliminating arguments over TV and allowing for the whole family to join the dinner table. In Britain, the figure was around two-thirds.

Other report highlights

The statistics and trends detailed in the NDS DVR Report demonstrate how important a role DVRs now play in the lives of consumers.

Other key findings from the survey include:

• DVR owners watch on average slightly more than four hours (4.075) of recorded and live television a day
• 89% of Americans, 81% of British, 80% of Australians and 78% of Italians all reported that the DVR has improved how much they enjoy watching television
• Nearly 61% think that a DVR is much easier to operate than a video cassette recorder
• Almost 58% find that they are watching more interesting TV programmes since getting a DVR
• More than three out of four agree that since getting a DVR they are more likely to find something to watch, when they want to watch TV
• Many respondents with only one DVR are keen to get a second one: 30% of Brits, 52% of Americans, 49% of Australians and 57% of Italians

Commenting on the survey, Nigel Smith, Chief Marketing Officer of NDS, said: “We commissioned this consumer survey to celebrate the milestone announcement that NDS technology now resides in over 13 million DVRs worldwide, making us the global leader in this market. The survey results show just how fast the DVR has become an indispensable part of people’s lives in the UK, US, Italy and Australia. It’s one of those technologies that, once tried, has you wondering how you coped before.”

Smith added: “At NDS we invest heavily in R&D to ensure that our technology is always ahead of the pack. Our next-generation DVR technologies, currently in development, will enhance the end user viewing experience still further, while also providing incremental revenue streams for our customers.”

Research methodology

The survey was carried out by Consumer Analysis Group in July 2008. The survey involved 1,012 people aged 18-70 years old who have a DVR at home. Consumers in the UK (256), US (252), Italy (251) and Australia (253), were questioned using a mix of phone, street and online interviews.

More: The DVR Report