Flashback: How many of you can remember back to when the video cassette recorder (VCR) was introduced? Do you recall the debate between whether or not to go with the VHS or the Beta format? Hitting the mass market in the late 1970’s VCR’s became a household staple for television viewers for almost 20 years. The beginning of the end for VCR was the move from videotapes of your favorite movies and television shows to the DVD. That is when viewers faced a real dilemma.
On one hand, viewers wanted to see their favorite movies in the much clearer and easier to use (easier to fast forward, rewind, scene selection, etc) format provided by the DVD. But on the other hand, they had a routine of recording programs on their VCR to watch at a time other than when the show was broadcast. Viewers just didn’t want to give up the ability to record their favorite programs.
Say hello to digital-video recorders! After a couple years of frustration, DVR’s were introduced and all the problems were solved. The world of “time-shifted” television (that is, programming viewed with a digital-video recorder) had arrived. And now people can not imagine how they lived without it. What are you to do when there are two shows on at the same thing? Just DVR one of them. How about when there are shows on and you will not be home for a week? Set your DVR to record them. Afraid you will forget to record a show next week? Don’t worry! With your DVR you can program it to record every show in the series.
Maybe it’s because of today’s tough economic times, but television viewing in total is growing at an amazing clip. Roughly 285 million of our country’s 306 million people watched TV in their home in the fourth quarter of 2008, up almost four million people compared to the fourth quarter of 2007 according to The Nielsen Company. People spent more time watching TV: an average of 151 hours a month or five hours a day – a record high according to Nielsen. This increase carried over to “time-shifted” viewing as well. Nearly 74 million people watched DVR programming in the 4thquarter of 2008 up 20 million people from the 4th quarter of 2007, a 37% increase.
Another key component to the DVR rage is the convenience factor. The ability to skip the commercials can be addicting. Our family rarely watches a television program in “real-time” anymore. At the very least we start recording it and then start watching about 20 minutes into the show so we can skip the commercials. The only television we watch in real-time is sporting events. But even during sporting events the DVR comes in handy with the rewind feature. No longer are you reliant solely on the broadcast to show replays, you can easily rewind and watch great plays over and over again and then resume live action.
There is one issue, however, that DVR recording and viewing has created for the networks and that has to do with the Nielsen ratings. How do they account for the viewers who record and watch the shows later and how do they translate that to their advertising customers? I jotted down a quick list of my top ten shows I watch on a regular basis and let me tell you NBC should be concerned. As a matter of fact, only CBS should feel secure. My top ten shows break down as follows: two are sit-coms, one is a reality show and the other seven are dramas (i.e. action, crime, cop-type shows). Out of my top ten seven are on CBS, one on Fox, one on ABC and one on the USA Network, which NBC owns a part of so I guess they don’t get “goose-egged” after all!
Fox wins the honors of broadcasting my favorite show “24”. Season 7 of Jack Bauer taking on the world of terrorists (not to mention his own government!) has been one of the highlights of this year’s television. Three shows in their first season make my top 10 led by ABC’s “Life on Mars” which overcame about a six week hiatus to remain a strong candidate for the network’s best new program. CBS’s “The Mentalist” is a favorite of mine as well as many other people as it is consistently ranked in the top 10 of the Nielsen ratings. The new CBS comedy “Gary Unmarried” also makes my list.
My favorite comedy program on TV is “The Big Bang Theory” on CBS. Actor Jim Parsons will win many an Emmy award for his portrayal of Sheldon in this up and coming series. The only reality show making my top 10 is “Survivor.” The main reason is my whole family enjoys this show and we all watch it together as a family event.
The remaining four shows in my top 10 are “CSI”, “CSI Miami” and “Criminal Minds” all on CBS as well as “Burn Notice” on the USA Network. These shows are well done, well cast and provide me an “escape” from my normal day-to-day activities. Finding the time to watch each of these shows would be nearly impossible without our DVR. What would we do without it?
The Buyline 