Report: DVR Users Use More VOD

A new survey found that digital-video-recorder users watch more video-on-demand programming -- both free and paid -- than their non-DVR counterparts.

The findings in Lyra Research’s “Fetching by Remote: A Survey of Video-on-Demand Users” go against cable-industry thinking that DVRs and VOD compete for viewers, Lyra said.

“We had anticipated that the DVR users would particularly watch less free VOD than the non-DVR users because DVR users can readily time-shift and control their TV shows without using VOD," said Steve Hoffenberg, principal analyst for the DTV View report series and Lyra's director of electronic-media research, in a prepared statement.

“Our findings may be because VOD offered content that was not available via broadcast or because the DVR users are more experienced than non-DVR users with time-shifting and more comfortable operating menu-driven systems for selecting programs,” he added.

Lyra surveyed 350 VOD users online in April and May.