Audio Video News

According to the results of the "PVR and Enhanced TV Potential" study, released last week by eBrain Market Research in cooperation with the Consumer Electronics Association, despite the continuing popularity of videocassette recorders in the US, the number of Americans who own hard-disk–based personal video recording devices (PVRs) is likely to increase significantly in the next 12 months.

The report found that increased functionality, such as the ability to pause live programming and skip commercials, will lead to this dramatic increase. According to the study, approximately 1 in 10 consumers (representing 11 million households) hopes to purchase a PVR by summer 2001, suggesting a potentially tremendous start for the emerging product.

Although the PVR technology is still relatively new to the world of consumer electronics, 16% of survey respondents claimed to be familiar with it. Men and individuals aged 18-44 demonstrated higher awareness levels of the product than other demographic categories, and among respondents in households with Internet access, awareness levels were more than double those without.

When asked about specific features of interest in a PVR, respondents overwhelmingly agreed that the abilities to skip commercials (71%) and to pause live programming and resume watching from the point of pause (59%) were of greatest interest. Other features of interest cited were the ability to rewind or repeat a scene during live programming (51%) and the ability to skip directly to certain points in a program, similar to skipping to specific songs on a CD (36%).

In addition to questions about PVR technology, respondents were also asked about interest in enhanced television functionality. Consumer interest focused largely on Internet capabilities, with the list topped by: "additional information about a product or program" (43%); "sending/receiving e-mail" (42%); "browsing the Internet" (38%); and "shopping or buying" (20%).