DVRs Step Back as Tru2way Advances

Written by Cliff Roth November 30, 2009 Hits: 433 Favorites

0.0 (0)

DVR freedom seems to be moving even further back towards limiting consumers' ability to fast forward through commercials, as evidenced by some comments made last month at a cable-TV convention by a key executive of the largest cable company in the U.S.

One key difference between buying a Digital Video Recorder and leasing one, from a consumer's perspective, is that with leased equipment there's no obligation to maintain a consistent set of features. When a consumer buys a set top box, they expect it to continue working the way it was initially advertised, but when they lease a STB from a cable-TV company, such expectations go out the window. A feature that's available one day can be removed the next. If a customer doesn't like it, they can return the box.

As detailed in an article in TV Week last month, Comcast COO Steve Burke said that he would "have no problem" disabling the fast forward function on Comcast's leased DVR set top boxes so that customers would be forced to watch advertising on recorded programs.

A leased set top DVR, over the course of 10 years might generate $1,200 for the cable TV company. They may arbitrarily wipe out it's recordings at any time (see previous blog, DVR Wipeout). And now they may eliminate key features. At what point does the insult to consumers rise to the level of demanding purchasable set top boxes with Tru2way (aka CableCard) capability that makes purchased boxes on par with leased ones? The only reason cable companies can lease set top boxes so successfully is because using third-party boxes, such as standalone TiVo units, requires more installation and deliver reduced functionality, due to IR-blaster channel changing and lack of interactivity with the cable-TV headend for VOD and other services. Tru2way promises to change all that. I hope it does.

User reviews

There are no user reviews for this listing.

To write a review please register or login.

Written by :

Cliff Roth