Wow, how times have changed from the old days when hardened TV execs proclaimed that DVRs were growing too slowly to take seriously. Today, DVRs households have reached an average of 17.2 percent of the U.S. population, with the Dallas-Fort Worth market topping the list at 26.5 percent (LA is second at 25.9 percent, San Francisco in third at 23.5 percent and Washington D.C. in fourth at 23.0 percent.) And all these DVRs add up, of course. Ratings for The Office jump 31 percent when you add DVR viewing. Lost skyrockets 22.8 percent. And 24 grows 19.4 percent. If these numbers were predicted four years ago, many TV execs would’ve laughed you out of the room. But they forgot to take the cable and satellite companies into account, which have accounted for the majority of DVR penetration — which is still growing fast.
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