Audio Video News

More than half of cable subscribers will have digital video recorders by 2010, according to a (rather expensive) study by the Carmel Group.

At the moment, 28 percent of cable subscribers have DVRs. That's about 17.6 million households. The study predicts this percentage to tip over the psychologically significant 50 percent mark in three years, nearly doubling to 32 million. DVR penetration among satellite subscribers is also expected to grow, from 10 million to 17 million.

Whether these DVRs will be hard drive or network based is uncertain, with the current court battles over the network DVR. But one thing's for sure: Advertisers will grow increasingly restive over ad-skipping viewers, potentially leading to desperate measures.