Nielsen Reports on DVR Viewing Habits

ORLANDO, February 15: The Nielsen Company has found
“significant differences” in the way viewers use digital video recorders
(DVRs), depending on how soon after the original broadcast they watch the show,
and what genre of programming they are viewing.

The research company found that DVR playback that occurs
closest to the original telecast retains more of the audience during
commercials than DVR playback that occurs further out. Plus, certain genres
such as sports and news have higher levels of live viewing, with DVR playback
occurring closer to the original telecast than average.

Among viewers 18 to 34 in DVR households, virtually all
sports and news DVR playback occurs within the same day. For daytime dramas,
about 85 percent is viewed on the same day, and for sitcoms and prime-time
dramas about 75 percent.

Households with DVRs watch significantly less live
television than households without DVRs, but most of that difference is made up
after seven days of DVR playback.

The research also indicates that DVR viewing of prime-time
broadcast programming is a communal experience: 54 percent of people watching
DVR playback are watching with someone else, vs. 46 percent who are viewing
alone. This compares to a 50-50 breakdown among viewers of live programming.

Plus, DVR owners are younger, better educated and have
higher incomes than the average U.S. household.

Nielsen also presented an overview of the emerging platforms
for viewing video on personal devices. Nineteen percent of households have at
least one Personal Video Device (PVD). The largest penetration is for portable
DVD players (10 percent of households) and video enabled cell phones (5 percent
of households). Only 4 percent of households own a video-enabled iPod or MP3
player.

Among PVD owners, about 66 percent say that it has been more
than a week since they watched something on their portable player. About 33
percent of iPod owners played a video file during the fourth quarter of 2006.
Forty percent of those users who played video do not own a video iPod, meaning
they are watching the video clips through iTunes on their personal computer.
Among iTunes video users, 95 percent of all daily playback time (50 minutes and
30 seconds) is audio. The average iTunes video user plays files only two and a
half minutes per day.

The findings were presented today at Nielsen's annual
meeting of national clients at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Orlando, Florida.

"New digital technologies are changing the way people
watch television and Nielsen is committed to helping clients understand and
measure this new viewing behavior," said Sara Erichson, the general
manager of national services for Nielsen Media Research. "The information
we are presenting to clients over the next two days demonstrates the complexity
of the challenges and the innovative solutions we are offering to address these
challenges."