DVR Chatter

A Nielsen study, referenced in Broadcasting & Cable Magazine shows that no only do DVR users watch more Prime Time programming, they actually spend more time watching TV.  DVR Users, in effect, use their DVRs to expand "Prime Time" later into the night.

In comparing data covering total television usage among 18- to 49-year-olds from November 2005, when DVR penetration was low, to November 2007, Nielsen saw that “viewing had increased slightly throughout the day and was 3% higher at 9 p.m. and 5% higher between 11 p.m. and midnight.”

[...]

Heavy shifters, mostly women aged 18-49, are heavy TV viewers and shift nearly one-half of their total viewing using DVRs.

Medium shifters watch slightly more TV than an average person and shift about one-third of their programs.

Light shifters -- which Nielsen classified as being 70% of DVR households -- watch less television than normal people and shift about 10% of their shows, mostly to catch episodes they may have missed.

[...]

Not surprisingly, sporting events, news and movies were generally watched live, while serialized dramas were most often recorded for viewing later. Daytime talk shows and primetime reality programs were also shifted by users with some frequency, although not as often as their dramatic cousins.