• by Wayne Friedman , December 5, 2016

While much sports viewing is live, versus non-sports programming, there is some time-shifted viewing among sports fans --  even if very little.

Nearly 60% use a “small time delay” to shorten the game and skip commercials, according to Thuuz Sports, a sports content discovery app provider. The company says this amounts to some 42% of DVR users -- 45 million.

The company, which surveyed 1,185 fans in late August/early September, said 26% use a DVR for sports “sometimes”; 16% said they never do. About one-third of respondents say they record live sports several times a week.

Viewers who watch NFL and college football tend to be heavier users of DVRs -- at 87.4% -- than non-football users at 70.3%, partly due to the fewer number of games/contests than in other sports.

Around 75% use time-shifted viewing of sports as a “back-up,” when they know they can’t watch sports live; 58% use it to skip commercials.

Respondents said they would pay $11.74 for a “personalized sports highlight experience.” And that if that was available, 61% said they would “watch more of my favorite sports.”