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Re-activateCablevision, which has been testing a "remote DVR" service for several months with some employees, says it will start rolling out the service to customers beginning next month.
Unlike a conventional DVR, which stores programs on a hard drive in the cable box in your living room, Cablevision's planned remote DVR service lets you store programs on the company's servers. Because the technology resides within the cable system's network, subscribers who want recording capability can use a regular cable box instead of renting new equipment with a hard drive. During a recent conference call with financial analysts, the company said it would stop deploying physical DVRs by year's end, when the service would be available to all subscribers.
The company originally wanted to offer the remote DVR technology back in 2006, but was sued by programmers and movie studios, which alleged the service infringed on their copyrights. A decision in favor of the content owners was reversed on appeal in 2008, and last year the Supreme Court decided not to hear a final appeal.
We still have a lot of questions about the new service—such as how much the service will cost, whether Cablevision will impose storage caps for each user, and whether those with current DVRs can continue to use them—so stay tuned for a follow-up post as the service gets closer to launching. And we'd love to hear from anyone who signs up for the service once it's offered.
—James K. Willcox
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