The inevitable happened -- ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox sued Cablevision over its plan to offer a network DVR. (A network DVR is simply DVR function delivered using cable head-end VOD functionality instead of a hard drive in your house.)
We predicted this -- but I can't take any real credit since it was obvious.
Briefly: network DVR ought to be legal. What difference does it make where the hard drive is located? Cablevision was careful to include restrictions (the most important -- you can't watch stuff on-demand unless you remembered to request to record it) but the networks had to try to slow this down. But you can't stop DVR -- people want it and they'll get it, one way or another.
Consumers watching recorded programs on VOD raises the possibility of not just ad skipping, but targeted ads and interactive ads that lead to more on-demand video from advertisers. I wish the industry would put its energy into this sort of innovation. Maybe Cablevision can settle this suit if it offers sufficient additional value for ads in this way. Maybe not.
See you at the Supreme Court in 2010, which is about when this one is going to get finally settled.
Technorati tags: DVR, PVR, network DVR, Cablevision network DVR lawsuit, Bernoff, Forrester
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