Cablevision today got further blessings from the Supreme Court, which decided not to hear an appeal in the networked DVR-related litigation. We have been following this story pretty closely, and frankly, it is good to see an end to litigation around this technology. Many studios and TV networks such as Paramount, Disney, CBS and NBC are opposed to network DVRs. A network DVR is a way for consumers to record, save and recall their favorite television programs and movies on the remote servers of the cable company. It eliminates the need for owning a local DVR-type device like the ones made by TiVo. Cablevision will launch the service later this summer, including features that would allow you to pause live television when a Cablevision-provided phone rings in your house.
Now if Cablevision could only get the dog to stop chewing the remote. Life would be perfect.
When this service becomes available and affordable, this will destroy traditional business models at these large media and cable companies. If these businesses don’t transform quickly they will not be able to survive this disruption.
Not cable companies. Remember, Cablevision _is_ a cable company. They make some money from advertising, but it is not essential. They can make a lot more charging $10-15/month for this network DVR feature. The people this really effects are the content creators. Without as much advertising revenue, networks won’t pay as much for shows.
I’m glad that the Supreme Court seems to be opening the way for new technologies, but its a shame the Cablevision is the one to get the benefit. That company hasn’t had its head screwed on straight for a long time.
And, I am sorry to say that this new DVR service is probably going to disappoint everyone. TiVo and other companies have made this their niche specialty and therefore are providing really good devices and services for people. On the other hand Cablevision is just using this technology as a new way to charge us more. They aren’t going to focus on providing the best service, they are going to focus on making the most money.
An interesting question will be how customers view the concept of having a service provider store their content. Some clearly won’t care and others will want to physically have control of it.
My real thought is that the lag time between “remote click” and seeing the result on the screen may really make this technology unappealing.
Unless discouraging viewers from fast forwarding or skipping through the commercials is their goal in the first place, that is.