SVOD, DVR Penetration Now Equal in the U.S.

NEW YORK: Key findings of Nielsen’s Total Audience Report for Q1 2016 include that SVOD and DVR penetration are now equal at 50 percent of U.S. TV households.

Live and DVR/time-shifted TV has 226 million adult users per month, Nielsen says, just behind radio usage at 240 million users per month. Adults spend 4 hours and 31 minutes on live TV per day, down by 1 percent on Q1 2015. Live, DVR and time-shifted viewing is down to 6 hours and 37 minutes. Viewing on a computer is up to 3 hours and 1 minute and smartphone viewing has risen to 2 hours and 32 minutes.

In total, daily media consumption—including tablet and smartphone apps, computers, multimedia devices, video-game consoles, DVDs and radio—is up from 9 hours and 39 minutes in Q1 2015 to 10 hours and 39 minutes.

Live TV accounts for about 29 percent of media consumption time for the 18 to 34 set, behind 39 percent of time spent on PCs, smartphones and tablets. This segment spends about 15 percent of its media time on TV-connected devices. For adults 35 to 49, digital and live TV are about equal, at 36 percent and 35 percent respectively, with 11 percent of time on TV-connected devices. Among those 50-plus, live TV dominates with 53 percent. Only 21 percent of their time is spent on digital devices and just 8 percent on TV-connected devices.

Since Q4 2014, DVR penetration has hovered between 49 percent and 50 percent, while SVOD penetration has steadily climbed from 41 percent to 50 percent. Among TV homes, 72 percent have either a DVR or access an SVOD service, up from 67 percent last year. The percentage of DVR only homes has fallen from 24.9 percent to 21.5 percent. SVOD-only homes have risen from 18.2 percent to 21.7 percent. And 28.8 percent of homes have both, up from 24.1 percent.