DVR GAINING POPULARITY

Thanks to the DVR, Americans are spending more time in front of their TV sets than ever before, Nielsen Research observed on Wednesday. In a new study, Nielsen noted that DVR usage has grown from 1.6 percent in 2006 to nearly 8 percent in 2011 — 10 percent in the case of women 18-54. The DVR, it noted, now allows viewers to watch two programs broadcast at the same time by the television networks — last year, for example, 7 percent of people 18-49 watched Castle and Hawaii Five-0, which both air on Mondays at 10:00 p.m. The result is that the amount of time a person spends viewing TV shows — either live or DVR-recorded — increased 19 minutes year-over-year in the first four weeks of the 2011 season. “In short,” Nielsen concluded, “we’re watching more, but more frequently on our own schedules.”