Cable, led by Cablevision, mulls network DVR

Tag : cable

Leading the way is Cablevision Systems Corp. , which plans to roll out a system in early 2009 that will letviewers record any show without a DVR, only a digital set-top box.Shows will be stored on Cablevision's servers instead of a home DVR_ a shift the company said could save it upward of $700 million.
Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp. , Time Warner Cable Inc. of New York and Charter Communications Inc. in St. Louis also are interested in deploying network DVR _ as thetechnology is known _ but are farther away from implementation. Thefour companies serve about 45 million TV customers _ or 70 percentof U.S. cable subscribers.
Cablevision offering network DVR "paves the way for the restof the industry," although most other companies won't deployit for years, said Tuna Amobi, an analyst with Standard &Poor's.
In spite of the savings, network DVR has some problems.
Time Warner pointed to the legal cloud surrounding it. The MotionPicture Association of America, whose members include major movieand television companies, has said it is "considering alllegal options" after losing a federal appeal of its 2-year-oldcopyright-infringement challenge of Cablevision's plan last month.The next stop would be the U.S. Supreme Court.
Tom Rutledge, Cablevision's chief operating officer, is unfazed.
"We did win our case, and the law of the land right now isthat our network DVR is lawful," he told The Associated Press."So we want to use it. Simple."
But Cablevision must tread carefully not to undermine the winningargument it made before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals inNew York that its network DVR essentially acts like a home DVR.
Subscribers will have to initiate the recording of shows, notCablevision; and the stored programs will have to be unique to eachviewer and not set aside for all subscribers.
Rutledge said subscribers will start out with 160 gigabytes ofstorage, about what a standard DVR has, and fees likely won'tchange from about $9.95 a month.
"If the functions are exactly the same (as a home DVR), Idon't think we'll price it differently," Rutledge said.