For the First Time, More US Households Have Netflix Than a DVR (variety.com)

For the first time, U.S. households with the Netflix video-streaming service outnumber those that own a digital video recorder (DVR), a dramatic rise from just five years ago, according to new data. From a report: About 54% of U.S. adults said they have Netflix in their household -- while 53% have a DVR, according to Research Group's annual on-demand study. It's the first time that households with Netflix have surpassed the level of those with a DVR in the history of LRG's studies. In 2011, according to the research firm, 44% of TV households had a DVR and 28% had Netflix. Netflix has now eclipsed DVR usage despite the latter having a years-long head start. TiVo's first digital video recorder shipped in 1999, while Netflix debuted its video-streaming service in 2007 and started the shift away from its DVD-by-mail business. As of the end of 2016, Netflix had 49.4 million streaming subscribers in the U.S., up 10.5% year over year.

Comments

DVR is expensive

[tepples]

How much of this is because TiVo charges $750 for the DVR, comprising $200 for the hardware and $550 for the required program guide subscription? That could buy several years of Netflix.

Re: DVR is expensive

[dougdonovan]

netflix was the wifes idea, i just live here, after all, under this roof, she is the boss :)

Re:DVR is expensive

[Thelasko]

How much of this is because TiVo charges $750 for the DVR, comprising $200 for the hardware and $550 for the required program guide subscription? That could buy several years of Netflix.

And the DVR doesn't come with content. You are either limited to what is over the air, or you have to get cable.

However, you get what you pay for. A DVR and cable allows you to watch far more content than Netflix. I think many people have determined that the larger volume of content isn't worth the extremely higher cost.

Re:DVR is expensive

[fahrbot-bot]

How much of this is because TiVo charges $750 for the DVR, comprising $200 for the hardware and $550 for the required program guide subscription? That could buy several years of Netflix.

A 4 tuner Tivo Bolt with 1 TB of storage is $300 and includes the first year of program guide subscription. After that, it's $150/year or $600 for a lifetime (of the box) subscription -- Note that the yearly option includes "continuing care" (like an extended warranty).

Yup, it's a bit expensive, but it's cheaper (and a better product) than renting a DVR from your cable provider in the long run. I had a MythTV system (with analog tuners) for about 10 years and was entirely satisfied with that, but Cox discontinued analog service last year. I could have added a 3 tuner Silicon Dust HD HomeRun box to my MythTV system, but Cox is a bit wonky with the CCI bit, and I didn't feel like screwing with it. (I hear Verizon / FiOS always leaves the bit unset, but I can't stand dealing with Verizon -- I used to have them for phone service.)

Re:DVR is expensive

[RabidReindeer]

And if you use something like a Roku to get your Netflix, DVR content seems totally insignificant by comparison. Because if Netflix isn't enough, there are dozens of other popular channels at (mostly) reasonable prices.

DVR+cable is not only atrociously more expensive than Netflix, but Netflix can deliver anything in its online library any time you want it (allowing for library turnover). With a DVR, you have to set up the capture in advance, and you're limited to what someone else chooses to push your way. Many of the most popular cable channels have only a handful of programs a month - they simply cycle through them. Plus the cable bundling deal means that you end up having to pay fat fees when you maybe only want to watch one or 2 of the offered channels.

That's funny

[OzPeter]

I *watch* Netflix on my DVR (Tivo)

Simple Math

[Anonymous Coward]

Netflix: $8 a month

DVR Rental: $12 a month

What about Amazon Prime?

[Ritz_Just_Ritz]

Since I already subscribe to Prime, I just stick to that for video content for now. I had a DVR for a while that my cable company snuck into my home (and then began charging me for it later) and I never used it. Hopefully, Amazon begins to catch up with Netflix on number and variety of available titles.

I use the latest Roku box to consume video these days.

Re:What about Amazon Prime?

[93 Escort Wagon]

I have Amazon Prime as well - and Prime Video sucks enough that we don't even look at it anymore.

It's not a question of "catching up" to Netflix or Hulu. Amazon's model is to offer just enough episodes of a particular show where they hope you'll pay additional money to watch the rest of them. This is probably a bit of an exaggeration, but it seems as if every time we tried to watch a series on Amazon, there were only 4-6 episodes which we weren't going to be charged extra for watching.

No thank you, Amazon.

Re:DVR and Netflix? How are they related?

[erice]

I kinda have the same reaction as if the headline said "For the First Time, More US Households Have Netflix Than a FishTank".

Putting aside that put are (usually) connected to a TV, how exactly are those two related? Especially when one is complementary to the other (and not exclusive).

Netflix has no commercials and you can watch anything in the catalogue at any time. If what you want to watch is on Netflix, it is just as good as having a DVR but less trouble.