Like setting the VCR clock, most of us are lazy. It takes time to seek out show to record when it is much easier to just search and watch as we please. And as more content is available through streaming and on demand, DVR use seems to be declining. According to yesterday's Mediapost article, "time-shifted viewing (DVR) declines are at the lowest level in three years." As more and more content is at our fingertips, it makes sense. Our need for immediacy makes on demand and streaming a more compelling option.
To be a DVR user, one must be proactive. You must actively seek out future times for a show of interest and tell the cable box to record and save it, either as one show or the whole series. Most don't plan their TV viewing like that anymore, especially millennials. Instead, we go to our app to stream content or our cable box to access the content via on demand with the intent to watch immediately. Now that we find ourselves with content everywhere, we simply need to get it to watch it.
But as a TV viewer who despises most commercials on live TV, the DVR offers one advantage over on demand and some streaming. I can control the trick features, fast forwarding through ads to get back to the content. On demand tends to restrict those trick features forcing ads to be shown as we wait for our program to resume. As a DVR user, I am in the minority, but I do love the added control.
One final point on ads. A newly discover network by me is Buzzr. It has acquired the old black and white game shows that GSN once aired. Shows like I've Got A Secret, What's My Line, and To Tell The Truth. Even better, Buzzr plays the b&w ads that played with these shows. Ads like Cool Whip and Toni put a smile on my face. I DVR these shows and don't fast forward through those ads.
