Nielsen: Dramatic Rise In Time-Shifted Viewing

Traditional TV DVR time-shifting continues to be an older-skewing activity. In the fourth quarter of 2010, almost 30 hours a month were time-shifted by those 25-64 years old -- according to a recent "State of Media" report by Nielsen.

For those 25-34 years old who have DVRs in their homes, time shifts encompassed 22% of all their TV viewing; 35-49s came in at 19% of the time; and 50-64, 16% of the time. By way of comparison, those 18-24s use DVRs around 19 hours a month, -- around 15% -- while those 12-17s time-shifted 18 hours, for 16% of all TV viewing. Overall, time-shifting usage rose 17.9% in the third-quarter 2010 and 13.4% in the fourth quarter of 2010. Looking at overall TV usage, there was some 289.2 million average TV viewers, about a 1.0% rise over the same period a year ago. Time-shifted viewers amount to 105.9 million, a 16.7% gain. Nielsen says as a result of DVR usage, the average U.S. TV viewer watched 154 hours per months of television -- an 18-minute gain over the same period a year ago. (This includes homes regardless of whether they have DVR machines.)