Mediaweek has begun a series of articles on DVR usage based on exclusive research by consumer research and consulting firm OTX. Considering Mediaweek’s audience, it isn’t surprising that they’re focused on the influence of DVRs on advertising and ratings. The study collected data from 3,500 DVR users during January 2008. One thing surprised me a bit:

Interestingly, the data shows that not everyone in a DVR household uses their DVR. In fact, in DVR-enabled households, 13 percent of people don’t use the device. Whether these people have never used the device or used it once and found no value is certainly worthy of, and will receive, future exploration.

At first I had trouble imagining having a DVR in my home and not using it. But then I thought about it, and realized I have TiVo which is very usable and user-friendly. And then I remembered that my parents have a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD and they hate it. It has randomly lost all their recordings, died completely a couple of times and needed to be replaced, and is generally so hard to use that they’ve pretty much given up on it. So I suppose I can see why some might not use it, and I am curious as to what their further stories uncover in that regard. (For the record my parents are moving into a new home soon and I’ve already sent them a TiVo HD with lifetime to setup in the new place. I couldn’t let them keep using that SA abomination.)

Read the whole article and I’ll keep an eye out for future installments.

TiVo recently added The Gourmet Channel to their TiVoCast lineup. MediaWeek takes a closer look at the addition, which may be the vanguard of a new trend for TiVo and TiVoCast. TiVo is looking for more original content to differentiate their product, and at the same time an increasing number of magazines are creating original video content for their websites to compliment their traditional magazine content. Launching a dedicated TV channel is beyond the means of most of the magazines, but they can deliver their original content into homes via TiVoCast. This is how The Gourmet Channel came to be, showcasing original content created by and for Gourmet Magazine.

“We’re looking to bring more content to TiVo, and magazines are creating video in all these content areas,” said Tara Maitra, vp, general manager of content for TiVo. “It might not make sense for them to create a television show, but we can take their content and bring it to the TV. Now you’re on television without the economics of launching a cable channel.”

Maitra declined to reveal which other magazines TiVo was talking to or a timeframe for adding titles, saying only, “We’re working as quickly as possible to bring on as many content partners as we can.”

I think this is a fantastic idea. Even as a hardcore geek I’ve never really cared to watch podcasts and most other web content. Watching video on a 17″ laptop screen just isn’t as enjoyable as relaxing and watching it on my TV. When TiVo added TiVoCast I immediately started watching many of the channels, and now, with Web Video, I’m watching an ever increasing number of podcasts. I find a lot of this original content much more interesting than standard television content. The more original content TiVo can bring to their platform, the better, I say.

As iTunes, and the iPod, continue to dominate the music market, and satellite radio is growing, terrestrial radio is looking for ways to remain relevant and maintain their audience - and revenue. A major push as been to ‘HD Radio’, which is the inaccurate (and, to me, annoying) name for digital radio. (There really isn’t anything ‘HD’ about it, that’s just marketing playing off the brand awareness of HDTV. HD means ‘better’ to consumers.) And the next step for HD Radio is trying to become part of the iTunes ecosystem by embedding tags in the broadcasts that will allow users with HD Radios to make note of songs they like, save the tag, and then later buy the song via iTunes. And Clear Channel is the first major radio chain to deploy this:

Clear Channel plans to announce today (April 7) that it will become the first radio chain to feature iTunes tagging across 345 stations broadcasting in HD.

The feature allows listeners to press a button on their HD radio to tag a song, store the information in an Apple iPod, then purchase and download songs via Apple iTunes when the iPod is synched with a computer.

Polk Audio’s I-Sonic Entertainment System 2 is the first HD radio receiver which includes this capability, but more receivers with the feature will be coming to market. There isn’t really a direct benefit for the radio stations but it is a ‘value add’ for the listener which the stations hope will add more value to HD radio and encourage more receiver sales, and most listeners.