A few months ago, Cablevision announced an exciting new service: Customers
would be able to record cable programs and play them at their convenience,
without purchasing DVR equipment. Recorded programs would be stored on
Cablevision’s server until the subscriber was ready to view them. Cablevision
argued that using the network-based service was just like having a DVR, only
more flexible and less expensive. But content providers didn’t see it that way,
and sued to stop Cablevision. The service was suspended until the legal issues
were resolved.
Today, only a few network-based personal video recorders, or nPVRs, have
been deployed in North America, and the only
content available is what the service providers have produced themselves.
But nPVR still has the potential to radically change video networks’ pricing
metrics, advertising, and content distribution, according to a new study from
ABI Research. Once the technology is proven and content
providers sign on, nPVR will help propel the overall DVR market from about 20
million subscribers last year to more than 250 million in 2011.
The reason for nPVR's importance: Storing video on network servers is much less expensive than
storing it on hard disks in set-top boxes or stand-alone DVRs. ABI
Research believes the largest market for nPVR will be in countries like India
and China where client-side DVRs aren't available.
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