Remote DVR Gets Look by Cable Operators Besides Cablevision
Cable operators of all sizes are giving some attention to Cablevision’s remote DVR service, likely to be allowed by courts to go forward, industry officials told us Monday. They said the industry is likely to give the service renewed attention because U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan late Friday recommended the Supreme Court not hear a challenge to a lower court’s ruling allowing the service (CD June 1 p12). Cablevision likely will be the first pay-TV company to deploy the service -- which can ultimately save operators money by sending video from cable headends instead of DVRs in set-top boxes -- as soon as summer, analysts said.
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Comcast and Time Warner Cable are among the operators likely to quickly follow suit, assuming the Supreme Court follows the recommendation of Kagan, analysts said. The high court usually heeds the advice of the solicitor general. It’s expected to make a decision in June, likely by denying cert to a programmer’s challenge. Cablevision is happy with Kagan’s recommendation and still believes “in the legality of remote-storage DVRs, as validated by the unanimous Second Circuit decision,” said a company spokesman. Spokespeople for Comcast and Time Warner Cable didn’t reply to messages seeking comment.
Operators that have gone all-digital or have all-digital systems are among the most likely to soon start selling remote DVR services, wrote analyst Craig Moffett of Bernstein. Operators that haven’t gone all digital can start the service, too, though they may have less spare bandwidth, said cable lawyer Paul Glist. Many cable companies have been closely watching the high court case, he said. The recession means they will carefully consider whether to start the service, Glist said. “It’s no surprise that people have to be very careful about the investments they make and where they make them in this economy, and this being a new venture you'd apply the same analysis to it” as other new products.
Remote DVR isn’t a priority for Bend Broadband, RCN and Cable One, part of the Washington Post Co., company officials said. “We haven’t overly focused on that, but I think it does provide a lot of benefit in terms of managing the content,” said CEO Amy Tykeson of Bend, which has gone all digital and has about 36,000 cable customers. “I think there’s a lot of work to be done in terms of the technological scalability of the smaller operators,” though the concept is “intriguing,” she added.
RCN took a look at remote DVR service early this year and late last, speaking with multiple vendors about it, said Rick Swiderski, vice president of network engineering. “The first pass we took you can get a little bit of sticker shock” because it seemed “a little bit onerous capex-wise,” he said. “If the regulatory and legal environment eases up another bit and we make another pass at the potential suppliers” and they understand the issues faced by the cable overbuilder, “then you are in a little bit of a better position,” he said. “But it’s a little premature for us right now.”