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The Reach of a Single DVR Starts to Slither Beyond the Den
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By Stewart Schley 10/16/2006
When Verizon Communications introduced a new multiroom digital video recorder service as part of its FiOS TV service on Aug. 14, the phone company-turned-video provider touted the development as a ray of hope for the huddled viewing masses whose DVRs are shackled to a single television set.
The service "breaks through technology barriers and living room walls to let customers enjoy TV on their own terms throughout the home," said Marilyn O'Connell, Verizon's senior vice president of video solutions.
Using a coaxial-cable backbone, the Verizon Home Media DVR slings recorded digital video streams to as many as three TV sets at once. That means programs stored on a Motorola DVR-inclusive set-top box in the living room can find their way to TV sets in the bedroom and the basement, without the need for separate (and expensive) DVRs attached to those extra TV sets.
But is extending DVR features to, say, two additional TVs worth two times the price?
Verizon offers the service at $19.95 a month - $7 more than its single-DVR fee - and adds on $3.95 per month for each extra set-top device. A customer with two TV sets tied to the Home Media DVR service, for instance, would pay $27.85 a month for the capability.
"Will anybody go for it? I think a lot of people will think that pricing is too high - but some won't," said Gary Sasaki, president of Digi dia, a consulting and research firm in Cupertino, Calif.
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( The entire article (LONG) is at the following source: http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6381140.html )
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By Stewart Schley 10/16/2006
When Verizon Communications introduced a new multiroom digital video recorder service as part of its FiOS TV service on Aug. 14, the phone company-turned-video provider touted the development as a ray of hope for the huddled viewing masses whose DVRs are shackled to a single television set.
The service "breaks through technology barriers and living room walls to let customers enjoy TV on their own terms throughout the home," said Marilyn O'Connell, Verizon's senior vice president of video solutions.
Using a coaxial-cable backbone, the Verizon Home Media DVR slings recorded digital video streams to as many as three TV sets at once. That means programs stored on a Motorola DVR-inclusive set-top box in the living room can find their way to TV sets in the bedroom and the basement, without the need for separate (and expensive) DVRs attached to those extra TV sets.
But is extending DVR features to, say, two additional TVs worth two times the price?
Verizon offers the service at $19.95 a month - $7 more than its single-DVR fee - and adds on $3.95 per month for each extra set-top device. A customer with two TV sets tied to the Home Media DVR service, for instance, would pay $27.85 a month for the capability.
"Will anybody go for it? I think a lot of people will think that pricing is too high - but some won't," said Gary Sasaki, president of Digi dia, a consulting and research firm in Cupertino, Calif.
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( The entire article (LONG) is at the following source: http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6381140.html )
