In the decades-old gender battle
for the remote control, it appears women have begun to wrangle the
device at a higher rate then men, especially when there's a digital
video recorder involved.
According to a new study from Solutions Research Group, American
women watch TV using the DVR 9.3 times a week, while men only use it
8.3 times per week.
Women with kids spend 56% of their TV-watching
hours time-shifting on a DVR, while men do the same only 42% of the
time.
The study describes women's DVR habits as "enthusiastic," but also
suggests their higher rate of DVR use is related to what they like to
watch. Sitcoms and dramas, which the study's director says women tend
to prefer, are easy to TiVo, but sports are better live.
Do you buy that? First of all, most DVR-owning men seem to have
discovered the joys of watching any televised sport on a 15-minute
delay so commercials can be skipped. And second, if women watch TV more
hours overall than men (which the study doesn't address), then of
course they will use the DVR more times per week, especially if they
are setting up DVR programming for kids and watching it with them. —Rachel Rosmarin
