Originally published April 5 2005
DVRs changing the way people watch, discuss television
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Digital video recorders (DVRs) such as the increasingly popular TiVo are changing the way Americans watch television. The number of homes equipped with DVRs is expected to top 33 million by the end of 2008. DVRs allow consumers to record shows automatically to a computer hard drive, then watch the show at the viewer's convenience. The phenomenon has cut down on 'water cooler' talk about show plots, as some fans wait until the weekend to catch up on their shows and don't want to hear spoilers at work.
When Los Angeles architect Anthony Poon, 41, hears people in his office start to talk about the latest episode of The O.C. or American Idol, he tells them to pipe down.
He likes to record the shows and watch them in a batch later on, and he doesn't want anything spoiled.
Morning-after gabfests around the water cooler dishing about last night's Lost are dying out --- or at least spreading out --- as more viewers are converted to the DVR age.
Bruce Willis recently extolled the virtues of TiVo to Jon Stewart, explaining that his enables him to catch Stewart's The Daily Show on Comedy Central.
The Yankee Group, a Boston-based communications research firm, predicts that the number of DVR homes will rise from 7 million at the end of 2004 to 33.5 million by the end of 2008.
That's still a fraction of the 100 million households that own VCRs.
But in a study of households with DVRs, users volunteered the word "loved" in describing their machines and said they had shown them to seven friends on average, according to Forrester Research.
Forrester's research shows that in DVR households, prime-time dramas, comedies and reality shows lose half of their real-time audiences.
And of the 18-44 age group prized by advertisers, more than 60% do not watch in real time.
As long as posts are clearly marked in regard to spoilers, nobody objects, and the discussions can run for days.
And at the cyber cooler, it doesn't matter when anyone watches the episode, as long as it's before the next one airs, says office manager Jan Buckner, 40, of Livingston, Mont.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml