Multi-room DVRs

I don't know if either or both of you are on Parks Assoc email list but yesterday one came out predicting 40 million multi-room DVR setups installed by 2009. Presumably this would have multiple STBs for each installation--one DVR and other boxes for accessing it over some network or the other. The email says:

For Immediate Release
Contact: Elizabeth Parks
Parks Associates
972-490-1113
Email: sales@parksassociates.com


Multiroom DVR: The Entertainment Network Comes Home
Competition will spur cablecos, satellite vendors, and telcos to deploy entertainment networking solutions

Dallas, Texas January 31, 2005 - Cable and satellite television providers will step up deployment of multiroom DVR (digital video recorder) solutions starting in 2005 such that the number of units will exceed 25 million in 2009, according to Parks Associates. Companies will deploy these mass-market entertainment networking solutions in limited numbers in 2005, but penetration will grow to approximately 16 million U.S. households by the end of 2009.

"Just as TiVo Inc. and its ilk introduced 'time-shifting' to the consumption of television content, multiroom DVR solutions will offer 'place-shifting' capabilities," said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates. "Recorded programming will be available throughout the home as these devices bring new levels of convenience and flexibility to TV use."

In addition to set-top box developers and manufacturers and their cable and satellite partners, home networking chipset developers will gain significantly from the aggressive deployment of multiroom DVR solutions, according to Scherf.

"The home networking industry hopes to expand the notion of connectivity beyond broadband connections and PC-centric content," Scherf said. "This year holds many opportunities for players developing technologies using wireless, powerline, phoneline, and coaxial networking solutions as they are applied to multiroom DVR solutions."

In early 2005, Parks Associates is launching two new primary consumer research studies, Digital Entertainment: Changing Consumer Habits and Mobile Entertainment Platforms & Services, which will focus on how consumers interact with and use digital media, including recorded television programming, digital music, gaming, and personal and self-created content. The studies will focus on the ways in which consumers will seek to "play-shift" their content in both home and mobile ecosystems. For more information about Digital Entertainment: Changing Consumer Habits and Mobile Entertainment Platforms & Services, please contact Parks Associates at 972-490-1113 or sales@parksassociates.com or visit www.parksassociates.com.