NDS: DVRs Make for Happier Home Life

LONDON/COSTA MESA,
September 3: NDS has released a survey of DVR users in the U.S., finding that
80 percent can’t live without the device, which was ranked as the third-most
indispensable household item after the washing machine and the microwave oven.

The NDS DVR Report indicates that 62 percent of Americans ranked the
DVR as the third most indispensable household item, after 97 percent for the
washing machine and 86 percent for the microwave oven. The DVR was also labeled
as the second most essential household technology item they can’t live without
(81 percent), beaten only by the mobile phone (92 percent).

Another key finding was
that having a DVR makes for a happier home life: 81 percent of respondents with
families believe that having a DVR has improved family life, allowing for more
time to eat dinner together, fewer arguments over what to watch and more family
time around the television. And 79 percent of respondents who have partners
said that using a DVR has improved their relationship.

The survey also found that
57 percent of American DVR owners watch more than three hours of live or
recorded TV daily.

“The results show how fast
the DVR has become an indispensable part of many people’s lives in the U.S.,”
said Steve Tranter, the VP of broadband and interactive delivery at NDS
Americas. “It’s one of those technologies that, once you use it, it makes you
wonder 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.”

The survey also assessed
DVR usage in several international markets. 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. Italian DVR owners care more about their hair than their DVR,
ranking the device as the fourth most indispensable item after the washing
machine, the microwave and the hairdryer.

—By Mansha Daswani