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Impact of New DVRs on TV Viewing Behavior

Informitv reports that UK satellite pay-TV service provider BSkyB now has over two million Sky+ digital video recorder (DVR) boxes installed.

Sky plans to allow recordings to be activated over the web, and to introduce 'push' video-on-demand services. The company also released new research on how Sky+ affects viewing behavior.

In Sky+ households, time-shift record and replay accounts for 22 percent of all viewing of programs originally scheduled between 9pm and 10pm and 17 percent of those scheduled between 10pm and 11pm. Across all channels, time-shifting accounts for just over 12 percent of total viewing through Sky+ boxes.

Drama programs accounts for nearly 40 percent of all time-shifted viewing, followed by documentaries at just under 15 percent, entertainment at 13 percent and movies at 9.5 percent. Current affairs programs accounts for just 1.2 percent while news and weather represent just 0.6 percent of time-shifted viewing.

Nearly a third of viewing of the 'Fox FX' channel is time-shifted in Sky+ homes, as is around a quarter of that for 'More 4' and the 'Hallmark' channel.

The research is based on viewing in Sky+ homes from February to December 2006. The 'Sky View' panel provides a measurement of actual viewing behavior in a representative sample of 30,000 Sky pay-TV subscriber homes.

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