NDS Media Center: Over 70% of Brits with a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) Can’t Live Without It According to NDS Survey

Over 70% of Brits with a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) Can’t Live Without It According to NDS Survey

Survey Highlights:

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

Brits rank the DVR as the third most indispensible household item (70%), after the washing machine (95%) and the microwave oven (71%)
Brits rank the DVR as the second most essential household technology item they can’t live without (78%), beaten only by the mobile phone (80%)
62% of Brits with partners say that having a DVR makes for a happier home life

LONDON, UK – September 3, 2008 – Over 70% of Brits who own a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) say that they can’t live without it, according to a new survey commissioned by NDS, the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV.

A DVR or personal video recorder (PVR) lets you record TV shows in digital format to a disk drive within the TV set-top box. NDS technology allows satellite TV subscribers to pause live TV, record, play back, rewind and fast forward their TV programs for viewing when they choose.

Other than the washing machine (95% of respondents) and the microwave oven (71%), no other household item is deemed more essential than the DVR (70%) in today’s UK homes. And when it comes to essential technology gadgets, the DVR (78%) is pipped to the post only by the mobile phone (80%), as the item they can’t live without. Intriguingly, the vast majority of respondents would rather give up their landline phone, dishwasher, radio, hairdryer and MP3 player than their DVR.

The survey also reveals that owning a DVR can make for a happier, less stressful home life. 64% of respondents with families believe that having a DVR has improved family life – which might help to explain why the DVR is ranked so favourably against other household items. Having a DVR also seems to improve relations between the sexes, with respondents who have partners saying that using a DVR has improved their relationship with their partner (62%). One respondent commented: “Having a DVR has taken the stress out of watching telly because no one has to compromise and miss their favourite programmes!”

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.

Other report highlights

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 British consumers of all ages.

Other key findings from the UK survey include:

DVR owners watch on average a total of 3.7 hours of television a day, made up of 2.2 hours of broadcast TV and 1.5 hours of recorded TV
Male DVR owners watch more recorded TV on average than women (1.7 hours vs 1.3 hours)
72% think that a DVR is much easier to operate than a video cassette recorder (VCR)
53% find that they are watching more interesting TV programmes since getting a DVR
77% agree that since getting a DVR they are more likely to find something to watch, when they want to watch TV
76% of people with a DVR think that it is a good idea because if the phone rings it doesn’t mean the programme they’re watching is ruined
46% of DVR owners with a family found that they had fewer family arguments over what to watch (this rises to 60% for people aged in their 40s)
81% of DVR owners think that having a DVR has improved how much they enjoy watching TV
30% of respondents who have only one DVR at the moment are so pleased with it that they would like to get a second one

Commenting on the survey results, Nigel Smith, Chief Marketing Officer of NDS, said: “The results show how fast the DVR has become an indispensable part of many people’s lives in the UK. It’s one of those technologies that, once tried, has you wondering how you coped before. Other than the washing machine, the mobile phone and the microwave, the DVR is now seen as the household item people would least like to give up, which means they would rather wash up their dishes and manage without a hairdryer than be parted from their DVR! And if having a DVR also makes relationships with partners and immediate family less stressful and happier, it’s got to be a good thing”.

Highlights: UK, US, Australia and Italy comparisons

Comparisons with the results from the same survey that was conducted simultaneously in the US, Italy and Australia also make for interesting reading. A few highlights are:

British DVR owners reportedly watch the least TV per day (3.7 hours), while the Americans watch the most at 4.7 hours a day. Americans in their 40s watch a whopping 5.4 hours a day
Italian DVR owners care more about their hair than their DVR: British (70%), American (62%) and Australian (67%) DVR owners all rank the DVR as the third most important household item, while the Italians ranked the DVR in fourth place (59%) after the washing machine, the microwave and the hairdryer
DVR owners with families in the other three surveyed countries place an even greater emphasis than the Brits on the power of the DVR to improve relationships between family members: 82% of Italians, 81% of Americans and 76% of Australians felt that this was the case, compared to 64% of Brits
Around half of Italian (57%), American (52%) and Australian (49%) DVR owners with only one DVR are keen to get a second, compared to just 30% of British DVR owners.

Chart of key findings

Question	UK	US	Italy	Australia
Average number of hours of TV watched per day (live & recorded)	3.7	4.7	4.1	3.8
Agree that since getting a DVR they are more likely to find something to watch, when they want to watch	77%	83%	75%	72%
Those with partners who found that having a DVR has improved their relationship	62%	79%	78%	78%
Those with families who found that having a DVR has improved family life	64%	81%	82%	76%
Those with one DVR who would like to get a second	30%	52%	57%	49%
Ranked the DVR as the second most indispensable household technology item, after the mobile phone	78%	81%	73%	75%
Ranked the DVR as the third most indispensable household item after the washing machine and the microwave	70%	62%	59%* *ranked fourth	67%

Slides for key questions: UK only

Here’s a list of eight popular pieces of today’s household technology – but you can only have four – which four have become a vital part of your life and which could you live without?

	Keep	Can Live Without
Mobile phone	80%	20%
Radio	62%	38%
iPod	38%	63%
Digital video recorder for the TV	78%	22%
Landline telephone	70%	30%
Home theatre system	15%	85%
Photo printer	28%	72%
Games console	20%	80%

Here’s a list of eight useful household items – but you can only have four – which four have become a vital part of your life and which could you live without?

	Keep	Can Live Without
Washing machine	95%	5%
Strimmer	24%	76%
Microwave	71%	29%
Digital video recorder for the TV	70%	30%
Coffee maker	22%	78%
Blender	17%	83%
Hairdryer	46%	54%
Dishwasher	50%	50%

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.

For a copy of the complete NDS DVR Survey please click here or email Lindsey Lee at llee@breakawaycom.com.

About NDS
NDS Group plc (NASDAQ: NNDS), a majority owned subsidiary of News Corporation, supplies open end-to-end digital technology and services to digital pay-television platform operators and content providers. See www.nds.com for more information about NDS.

Read about the latest developments at NDS and in the Pay TV industry in World Vision

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For further information:

NDS
Cynthia Ritchie	T: +44 (0)20 8476 8378
Director, Corporate Communications	critchie@nds.com

Breakaway Communications for NDS	T: +1 212 616 6006
Kelly Fitzgerald, Managing Partner	kfitz@breakawaycom.com

Breakaway Communications Europe for NDS	T: +44 (0)7766 447897
Lindsey Lee	llee@breakawaycom.com