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Demand for Personal Video Recorder (PVR) products increased tremendously during the past year, reports In-Stat.

This demand stems from increased consumer awareness about the concept of time-shifting television programming, and both pay-TV service providers and PVR product manufacturers are reaping the benefits, the high-tech research firm reports.

"The deployment of PVR products has been a success story for both pay-TV service providers and consumer electronics manufacturers," says Mike Paxton, an In-Stat analyst. "While the current growth of PVRs is being spurred by satellite TV set top box products and DVD recorders with built-in hard disk drives, other product segments like cable TV set top box-based PVRs are also flying off the shelves."

A recent report by In-Stat found the following:

PVR service providers, led by companies like TiVo and EchoStar, also enjoyed a banner year, as total worldwide households subscribing to a PVR service increased from 3.6 million in May 2004, to over 9.2 million in May 2005.

North America remains the largest market for PVRs, followed by Japan. In 2004, the two regions accounted for 88% of total worldwide PVR product unit shipments.

Worldwide PVR product revenues have also risen rapidly, increasing from $2.1 billion in 2003 to over $4.3 billion in 2004.

A recent US consumer survey revealed that most PVR users are highly satisfied with their PVR service. Eighty-nine percent of surveyed PVR households they were either "extremely satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their PVR service.

The report covers key issues that are shaping the market for PVR products in 2005. It includes results of a consumer survey about PVR usage, profiles of leading PVR service providers and manufacturers, an examination of important market trends in 2005, and worldwide PVR unit shipment and product revenue forecasts.