It’s a concept that was inevitable given the nosedive prices have been taking on digital storage (hard disk space) and the increase in bandwidth Cable TV providers are able to offer subscribers.  Remote Storage Video Recorder is a cross between On Demand and the PVR (Personal Video Recorder) that is due to be tested by Cablevision Systems an east coast Cable TV provider that serves New York, Connecticut and New Jersey.  The system will allow subscribers to pause a show they’re watching and even rewind, fast forward or record for later viewing just like a PVR or TiVo.  The big difference is that the data is being stored at the Cable company instead of on a local hard disk as it would be in a PVR.  In fact Cablevision says that the new technology won’t require the users to rent any extra hardware, it will work on existing digital cable boxes.  This will result in tremendous savings to the cable company not having to rollout new hardware and this saving Cablevision promises to pass on to the consumer.  They suggest a 9.99 monthly subscription fee for the RSVR (Remote Storage Video Recorder) service which would be less than the cost of renting a PVR from the cable company.

Cablevisions Systems says the RSVR will be tested first in Long Island, NY and that subscribers will be able to record two TV show simultaneously while watching another recorded show.  The system will be able to save 45 hours of programming. 

Is Cablevision’s new video recorder system a sign of a pending data line war between Cable TV providers and the phone company?  The announcement from Cablevision Systems come soon after Ed Whitacre from AT&T called the Cable TV companies out on their complacency in the face of an absence of any real competition.  Whitacre promises healthy competition for Cable TV when they get IPTV rolled out.  Then one week later a major North American Cable TV provider announces a new groundbreaking service to its customers.  Perhaps the Cable TV industry is feeling some heat already and trying to keep its customers.