DirecTV Now has ended the beta test of its cloud DVR and, according to one published report, is preparing to launch 120-hour version of the product as an add-on service.

UPDATED: In May, parent company AT&T announced that it would debut an add-on cloud DVR for its virtual pay TV service that delivered 100 hours of storage for $10 a month. However, enthusiasts blog BestAppleTV.com is reporting that DirecTV Now will now offer multiple tiers of its add-on cloud DVR ranging from 50 hours of storage to 120 hours. 

An AT&T rep denied that the company's DVR add-on plan has moved beyond the initial May announcement of a 100-hour, $10-a-month add-on. 

The company recently began notifying customers participating in the beta test that, starting on August 29, their free 100-hour True Cloud DVR beta will be converted to the 20-hour version that will be a standard offering on all DirecTV Now subscriptions going forward.

For those customers, AT&T said it will erase any content more than 30 days old. It will keep up to 20 hours of the most recently recorded video.

Related: DirecTV Now Seeking Cloud DVR Testers

Speaking during AT&T’s first quarter earnings call in April, AT&T CFO John Stephens said new features like cloud DVR and pay per view will help enhance the margins of DirecTV Now, which analysts suspect loses money in its current iteration.

“These new services will add new revenue streams and help counter some of the revenue and margin pressure we are dealing with,” Stephens explained.

AT&T launched its cloud DVR beta in the third quarter of last year. It’s unclear as to how many subscribers it hooked into the program. 

Sling TV has made its optional cloud DVR service available to most of the devices supported by Dish-owned OTT TV service.  

The latest platforms to get access include Google Chrome, Google Chromecast, Xbox One consoles, and certain Samsung and LG Electronics smart TVs. That expands on earlier support for Sling TV on Roku players and Roku TVs, Amazon Fire TV devices and Fire tablets, Android TV devices, iOS and Android mobile devices, AirTV Players, Apple TV boxes, and Windows 10 devices.  

RELATED: Sling TV’s Cloud DVR Does Windows 10, Reaches AirTV, iOS Devices 

Sling TV’s cloud DVR service provides 50 hours of storage for an additional $5 per month (Sling TV subs on the original Cloud DVR beta offering have access to 100 hours of storage).  

Sling TV reiterated that DVR functionality is not available on select channels (that list includes Disney and ESPN channels), and that it’s not presently supported on Samsung 2018 model smart TVs or its implementation on Comcast’s X1 platform.  

RELATED: Comcast Streams Sling TV’s International Programming Slate to X1 Boxes 

Sling TV ended 2017 with 2.2 million subs, but has not broken out how many take the Cloud DVR service.  

JHulu said it has added two new features to its cloud DVR that comes with its new live TV service, and marks the start of several others that will be added, based on customer feedback.

Among the new features, customers that add a show to the My Stuff section can now tell the service to record new episodes and reruns, only new episodes, or not to record that program at all.

For shows already tagged to the My Stuff area, subs can also manually change recording options on the details page. A Record Series slider there will enable users to toggle to their preference for a given program.

Those two new features are initially offered on Hulu’s apps for iOS, Apple TV (fourth-gen), Xbox, Amazon Fire TV devcies, the Nintendo Switch and 2017 Samsung smart TV models.

Hulu’s baseline live TV service starts at $39.99 per month with 50 hours of cloud DVR storage (and two streams per account), and also sells an enhanced cloud DVR service that runs $14.99 per month for 200 hours of storage and the ability to record as many shows concurrently as they want and be able to fast-forward through ads in recorded shows.

Hulu announced last month that it ended 2017 with more than 17 million total subscribers, a number that includes those who subscribe to its SVOD service as well as the live TV offering. CNBC reported recently that Hulu has about 450,000 subscribers to its live TV offering.

Hulu also announced on Reddit that it has started to test video at 60 frames per second on a select batch of channels.

Hulu noted that the faster frame rate, which can add smoothness to high-action content like sporting events, is the most-requested feature from its viewers. Notably, Hulu’s starting those tests in time for the 2018 Winter Olympics as well as March Madness.

RELATED: Hulu Boots Up Personal Experience for Winter Games

In phase 1 of the test, Hulu is extending 60fps for certain channels on apps for iOS mobile devcies, Apple TV, the Xbox One, Fire TV, Samsung smart TVs using the Tizen OS, and the Nintendo Switch.

In addition to available NBC affiliates and New England Channel News, the Hulu has initially tacked up support for 60p for the following channels: CNN, CNN International, HLN, TNT, TBS, TCM, TruTV, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, all Showtime channels, and about half of Hulu’s available Fox affiliates.

Hulu noted that individual Fox and NBC affiliates may temporarily revert back to a 30fps version to bring viewers “the most stable playback stream.”

AT&T remains “very bullish on video” as it looks to launch a next-gen version of DirecTV Now this spring, and introduce a new “home-centric” thin-client streaming device by the end of the year, Randall Stephenson, AT&T’s chairman, president and CEO, said Wednesday on the company’s Q4 earnings call.

He’s also bullish about video in part because AT&T managed to add to its pay TV base as DirecTV Now, its OTT TV service, added enough subs in Q4 to offset subscriber losses for U-verse TV and DirecTV’s satellite TV offering.

RELATED: AT&T Adds 368,000 DirecTV Now Subs in Q4

The coming DirecTV Now upgrade will add in cloud DVR services, enable subs to get a third stream (the current DirecTV Now product supports two concurrent streams per account), and enhancements to the service’s user interface.

AT&T noted in December that enhancements coming to DirecTV Now will also include support for 4K video, individual profiles, and a VOD library with more than 35,000 titles (up from about 25,000). 

John Stephens, EVP and CTO at AT&T, said DirecTV Now subscribers continue to be an equal mix of cord-cutters and cord-shavers/cord-nevers. A “disproportionate” number of those DirecTV now customers are also millennials and those who live in multiple dwelling units.

“We still haven’t seen a dramatic uptick in customers that are shifting from our full value product to [DirecTV Now], but we continue to watch that carefully," Stephens said. 

Stephenson, meanwhile, is hopeful that the addition of a cloud DVR and the third stream will drive more revenues as well as higher penetrations for the DirecTV Now service.

Stephenson also offered some details about AT&T’s plans to introduce a new “home-centric” streaming device that will “repurpose” the company’s traditional linear TV platform.

He said the new in-home offering will take the form of an inexpensive, “very thin client” that can be connected to any broadband service and include a voice-controlled interface. In addition to supporting DirecTV Now, it will also integrate access and search to other OTT services, including Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and YouTube, among others.

"It also gives you a premium live video experience in your home with the flexibility and ease of use [that] you would expect out of an OTT service,” Stephenson said.

“That [device] will actually drive cost structure of the traditional video product down, so that you can preserve margins in the traditional video as you grow in the over-the-top applications and video services,” he added.

Stephenson didn’t elaborate on that product further, but FCC documents that surfaced last fall showed that DirecTV is developing a 4K-ready, Android TV-powered streaming device with voice search and access to apps from the Google Play store.

And while AT&T expects pressure on its pay TV business to continue throughout 2018, “we’re very bullish on video,” Stephenson said. “We are standing up a video product that we are convinced will give us growth on the video platform for the next few years...and that's our DirecTV Now [product]…As traditional linear declines, DirecTV Now, we think, can offset that.”

Earlier in the call, Stephenson said closing AT&T’s pending deal for Time Warner is a top priority for the company, despite a government attempt to block it.

RELATED: DOJ Suing to Block AT&T-Time Warner Deal

“While we remain open to finding some reasonable solutions to address the government’s concern, we do expect this case will ultimately get litigated in court." 

He said the trial date in that case is set to begin March 19. “We remain very confident that we'll complete this merger." 

Didja, a company that has launched an OTT offering featuring several local broadcast channels in Phoenix and the Bay Area, has hit a speed bump of sorts.

RELATED: Didja Takes Dozens of TV Stations Over-the-Top in the Bay Area 

As reported by FreeTVBlog, those services – branded locally as Phoenix BTV and Bay Area BTV, recently dropped three Katz Broadcasting digi-nets: Bounce, Escape and Grit.

Didja confirmed that those networks are not currently in those local lineups, but believes the situation is temporary, and remains hopeful that they will be restored to its lineups. 

Didja did not elaborate on why those networks have been taken off. Katz Broadcasting has been asked for comment.

According to FreeTVBlog, Didja customers in Phoenix recently received an alert that Grit, Escape and Bounce were temporarily unavailable. “We hope to bring you these channels again soon.”

Speculation is that the two sides still must hammer out a formal distribution deal.

Didja’s approach with its LocalBTV offering (a service that is rebranded by market) is to sign distribution deals with local broadcasters on a free, OTT-delivered live TV service for web browsers and mobile devices, complemented by a paid (and optional) DVR offering. With those deals in hand, Didja captures the over-the-air TV feeds from partners at a local data center, and converts them into OTT video streams that are accessible only in the local DMA. By comparison, the now-defunct Aereo tried to do something similar without getting carriage agreements.

Didja’s service is generally designed to appeal to millennials and other younger audiences that tend to consume video on their mobile phones and to capture consumers who are cord-cutters or have otherwise fallen out of the pay TV ecosystem. The lineup is also aimed at bilingual households.

Following a trial in Phoenix, Didja followed up with a launch in the Bay Area that featured dozens of local channels, including TV Azteca), Skylink, U Channel (Chinese), DiyaTV, Viet Bay, Net V, KPOP and Blues Television Network.

Didja’s intentions include adding local feeds from major broadcasters such as ABC, NBC, Fox and CBS, and to eventually offer a lineup of up to 70 channels. Los Angeles is on its list of expansion markets.

fuboTV, the sports-focused virtual MVPD, has rolled out premium-level “Advanced DVR” add-on that lets subs store up to 500 hours of programing in the cloud for an additional $9.99 per month.

RELATED: fuboTV Offers Cloud DVR Upgrade to Subs Who Missed Soccer Match

fuboTV offers a more basic form of its cloud DVR for all packages that lets users store up to 30 hours.

As part of the update, fuboTV customers with the more basic DVR service can keep content stored perpetually, so long as they remain an active subscriber. Previously, customers had ten DVR “slots” for recording that would expire after ten days. The Advanced DVR service also allows recording without a fixed expiration.

fuboTV currently supports cloud-based DVR on web browsers, app for iOS and Android, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV devices.

fuboTV has also introduced a pair of product updates.

Viewers can now pause and un-pause a live stream when the service is being viewed on supported desktop, mobile web platform and iOS devices.

fuboTV has also added a feature (initially on desktop and mobile web platforms) that lets viewers use their personal storage to jump/seek from a pause stream to live TV, and rewind back to where they started watching.

DirecTV Now’s beta test of a cloud DVR is letting a small group of customers record and store up to 100 hours of shows, according to details uncovered by CordCutterNews.

AT&T declined to offer further comment on the trial, but the report, based on screen caps from the DirecTV Now app for mobile devices, notes that recorded shows can be located in the app’s My Library area.

DirecTV Now began to send out emailed invitations for the beta trial in recent weeks, and the OTT TV service is still expected to launch the feature commercially later this year. The company hasn’t said how many of its 500,000-plus subscribers have access to the beta, and if it will charge extra for that option or offer different tiers of storage. 

RELATED: DirecTV Now Seeking Cloud DVR Testers

But the coming rollout will help DirecTV Now keep up with what’s become a core feature or option for other virtual MVPDs, including Sling TV, fuboTV, PlayStation Vue,  YouTube TV and Hulu. Vidgo, which is expected to launch service later this year, will also offer a cloud DVR.

RELATED: Vidgo Eyes a Fall Launch

Among traditional MVPDs, Comcast offers cloud DVR storage for its X1 service.

-Image source: CordCutterNews

Sling TV, Dish Network’s OTT TV service, said it has expanded the number of networks and devices that support a Cloud DVR service that it’s selling to subscribers under its “First Look” program.

Those customers, who get access to 50 hours of DVR storage, can now record shows on several Fox  channels, including local Fox broadcast feeds, FS1, Nat Geo and FX. The caveat is that if the program being recorded is offered from Fox on-demand, the customer will be automatically redirected to the VOD asset. YouTube TV has a similar limitation in place for its cloud DVR, whereby subs can’t fast-forward through ads when they are viewing the VOD version of a show.

RELATED: YouTube TV’s Cloud DVR Has a Catch

Sling TV, which introduced its Cloud DVR trial late last year, previously confirmed that some channels, including ABC, Disney and ESPN networks, will not support the cloud DVR, and that it was working toward enabling the feature for all programming offered on the service.

Sling TV said it has also extended Cloud DVR support for its service on Xbox One consoles, complementing existing access on Amazon Fire TV boxes and Fire tablets, Android mobile devices, Android TV-powered devices, Apple TV boxes, and Roku players and integrated Roku TVs.

Cloud DVR support for Windows 10, the new AirTV Player, and iOS devices will be added in the “coming weeks,” Sling TV said.

RELATED: AirTV Firmware Update Stitches Over-the-Air Channels to Guide

Sling TV said it has also added a “Protect” feature that lets customers retain recorded programs for as long as they are a subscriber, as well as a DVR folder that helps subs organize their recordings, and a “Record from Franchise” component that lets subs record a show or series from its franchise screen.

Among virtual MVPDs, YouTube TV, now available in five markets, fuboTV and PlayStation Vue all offer cloud DVR options with different capabilities and limitations.  DirecTV Now has a cloud DVR on its roadmap.

RELATED: fuboTV Beefs Up Cloud DVR Capacity

Hulu used its annual Upfront Wednesday to launch a beta version of its long-anticipated live TV streaming service that starts at $39.99 per month, a price that includes a lineup of more than 50 channels, 50 hours of cloud DVR storage, and two simultaneous streams per account, along with a batch of premium add-on features and services. 

The price in the baseline offering will also include Hulu’s ad-supported, premium SVOD service, which regularly sells for $7.99 per month as a stand-alone, and includes original series such as The Path, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Mindy Project. Hulu's live TV subscribers will also have the option to get the commercial-free version of the service for an additional $4 per month.

With an eye on personalization, the base Hulu Live TV service will also let subscribers create up to six individual profiles. Hulu said its new platform/interface will tie in the service’s live, recorded and VOD content, and make recommendations based on viewing habits, factoring in the time of day content is watched and which device is being used.

RELATED: Hulu brings e-commerce to living room screens

Among other features, Hulu’s Live TV beta plan will also let subs track their favorite pro and college teams and the service will auto-surface and record those games, subject to availability. The service also includes a “Kids Mode” component focused on children’s programming.

Hulu, which announced plans for the live TV service last June, will be competing against traditional MVPDs as well as a growing mix of virtual, OTT-powered MVPDs that include Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, YouTube TV and DirecTV Now.

Hulu’s OTT TV service will also support a mix of premium add-on features. An “enhanced” cloud DVR service, selling for $14.99 per month, will let subs upgrade to 200 hours of storage and give them the ability to record as many shows concurrently as they want and fast-forward through recorded ads. An Unlimited Screens option, also selling for $14.99 per month, gives subs an unlimited number of in-home streams, and up to three when the service is accessed outside the home. Subscribers also have the option to bundle the enhanced  Cloud DVR and unlimited screens options for $19.99 per month.

Hulu will also sell Showtime for $8.99 per month , and plans to add more premium network add-ons “soon.”

Out of the chute, Hulu’s Live TV beta offering will support several mobile and TV-connected platforms, including iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, Apple TV boxes (fourth generation), Xbox One consoles, and is optimized for the Google Chromecast streaming adapter. Other platforms and devices, including Roku, Amazon Fire TV boxes and sticks and Samsung smart TVs will be added to the mix "soon," Hulu said. 

Hulu is introducing the live TV beta with deals in place with several major programmers, including 21th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal, CBS, Turner Networks, A+E Networks and, just today, announced a deal with Scripps Networks Interactive that brings in networks such as HGTV, Travel Channel and Food Network.

The service will also include live local feeds from ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC or a subset of that grouping, depending on the market. Markets that will have access to live locals from CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox right away include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose.

Hulu noted that it will light up more live local feeds on a rolling basis over the next few months.

“Nearly a decade ago, Hulu forever redefined the way people watch TV. Today, as we add live sports, news and entertainment and introduce a more intuitive Hulu, we want to redefine the way people experience TV,” Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins, said in a statement. “By bringing together thousands of live, on-demand and library shows and movies -- and serving them up in a uniquely personalized way – Hulu can now be a viewer’s primary source of television. It’s a natural extension of our business, and an exciting new chapter for Hulu.”

Hulu also released a short video promotion about the live TV beta. Watch it here, or below:

Here’s a list of networks available via the Hulu Live TV beta plan at launch:

21ST CENTURY FOX

FOX

Big Ten Network

Fox Business Network

Fox News Channel

Fox RSNs

Fox Sports 1

Fox Sports 2

FX

FXX

FXM

National Geographic Channel

National Geographic Wild

THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY

ABC

ESPN

ESPN2

ESPNU

ESPNEWS

ESPN-SEC Network

Freeform

Disney Channel

Disney XD

Disney Junior

NBC UNIVERSAL

NBC

Telemundo

Comcast RSNs

The Comcast Network Philadelphia

NECN

USA Network

Bravo

E!

Syfy

MSNBC

CNBC

NBCSN

Golf Channel

Chiller

Oxygen Network

Sprout

A+E NETWORKS

A&E

The History Channel (THC)

Lifetime

Viceland

Lifetime Movie Network (LMN)

FYI

SCRIPPS NETWORKS INTERACTIVE

Food Network

HGTV

Travel Channel

TURNER NETWORKS

CNN

HLN

CNN International

TBS

TNT

TruTV

TCM

Turner Classic Movies

Cartoon Network & Adult Swim

Boomerang

CBS CORPORATION

CBS

CBS Sports Network

POP

Sling TV said it has extended access to its Cloud DVR service on Apple TV boxes under the OTT TV provider’s “First Look” program.

The program enables Sling TV subs to add a Cloud DVR service (with 50 hours of storage) for an additional $5 per month.

RELATED: Sling TV Extends Paid Cloud DVR Access to Roku, Android Users

Sling TV has previously extended the paid Cloud DVR program to subs who stream the service on Roku devices (players and Roku TVs), Android TV devices, Amazon Fire TV boxes and sticks, Amazon Fire tablets, and Android smartphones and tablets.

Sling TV said it expects to extend Cloud DVR access to more devices in the coming weeks.

Sling TV has previously confirmed that its original Cloud DVR beta testers won’t be charged, and will continue to have access to 100 hours of DVR storage during the beta period.

Sling TV launched a beta trial of its Cloud DVR late last year.

RELATED: YouTube TV's Cloud DVR Has a Catch

Among virtual MVPDs, YouTube TV, now available in five markets, fuboTV and PlayStation Vue all offer cloud DVR options with different capabilities and limitations.  DirecTV Now has a cloud DVR on its roadmap, and Comcast offers a cloud DVR service via its X1 platform.

The cloud DVR that comes with YouTube TV’s new OTT TV service comes with unlimited storage, but is apparently limited when it comes to letting subscribers fast-forward through ads in recorded programs.

YouTube confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that subscribers to the new offering, now available in five markets for $35 per month, will be forced to watch commercials in some popular shows recorded to the cloud DVR – a restriction that is not present in traditional local DVRs or cloud DVR offerings from Comcast or Sling TV, the Dish Network-owned virtual MVPD service.

RELATED: Sling TV Extends Paid Cloud DVR Access to Roku, Android Users

Due to a “tangle of contracts” YouTube has with media giants such as Disney, 21st Century Fox and NBCUniversal, if a new TV episode is available via VOD (which disables fast-forwarding for ads), customers won’t have access to a cloud DVR-recorded version that would support ad-skipping, the paper said, noting that the ad-skipping restriction doesn’t factor in if a VOD version of a show doesn’t exist.

YouTube TV makes no mention of this limitation in its FAQ about its cloud DVR, which reads:

“You can record as many programs as you want at the same time, without ever running out of storage space. We’ll even keep each recording for 9 months. Stream from your library anywhere in the U.S.”

The WSJ said this restriction appears to be a special case in part because some believe YouTube “hasn’t done enough to battle pirated content appearing on its platform.”  

YouTube TV also has not detailed the architecture of its cloud DVR, and whether its special rights arrangements with some programmers means it can let multiple subscribers access the same copy for certain programs, or if its system makes individual copies of all program recording requests.

YouTube has been asked for further comment and clarification on this point.

Though it’s extremely inefficient from a storage standpoint, network and cloud-based DVR services from Comcast, Altice (in the former Cablevision System properties) and others make individual copies of all recorded programs to ensure that they stay within the bounds of copyright rules.

RELATED: DOJ Recommends Supreme Court Not Take RS-DVR Case

Still, other cloud DVR implementations aren’t without some caveats of their own. For example, Sony PlayStation Vue’s cloud DVR supports unlimited recordings, but users must watch them within 28 days. The FAQ for Comcast’s cloud DVR (offered with its X1 pay TV platform/service) points out that only the “most recent 60 hours of recordings are available for X1 Cloud DVR functionality.”  Those older recordings will drop off the Cloud DVR list, but will still be available via the set-top box. Also, Sling TV's cloud DVR doesn't provide that functionality for all channels, including ABC and ESPN, yet, though the company is working to rectify that limitation. 

Get complete coverage of CES 2017

Sling TV’s cloud DVR service initially being tested on the Roku platform is up and running with “thousands” of customers of the OTT-TV service, Sling TV CEO Roger Lynch said today in a talk on Cheddar, the online news channel that was recently added to the Sling lineup.

RELATED: Sling TV Adds Cheddar, TheBlaze, Sling Kids VOD Channel

Sling TV’s cloud DVR trial went live last month. Those beta participants can record up to 100 hours of programming, though some channels, including ABC, Disney and ESPN networks, can’t be recorded with the cloud DVR, though Sling TV is trying to remove that limitation.

“That’s going to be really transformation for our business,” Lynch said in the interview, held in Las Vegas at CES.

CES 2017: Sling TV Launches Certification Program

He said “virtually all” Sling TV subscribers who registered for the cloud DVR trial and received an invite ended up opting in for it. Sling TV is in the feedback phase on the cloud DVR product and expects to roll it out to other supported devices in the comping months, he said.

Lynch also talked up this week’s formal debut of AirTV, a product for cord-cutters from a subsidiary of Dish DBS Corp. that provides access to OTT services such as Sling TV and Netflix and the option to integrate local over-the-air broadcast TV channels.

RELATED: CES 2017: Dish Unit Pitches Android TV-Powered AirTV Box for $99

That product “has caught a lot of interest,” Lynch said.

Though Sling TV does offer packages that stream local feeds from ABC, NBC and Fox in select markets, Lynch downplayed the lack of a deal with CBS.

Lynch said he doesn’t see the need to offer CBS in part because Sling TV subs can already get it on an a la carte basis by subscribing to CBS All Access.

He was also asked to comment on competition from DirecTV Now, AT&T’s new OTT-TV service. Lynch said DirecTV Now targets a different demographic than Sling TV because it tries to replicate bigger bundles. 

“It’s surprising it has taken this long to get any serious competition,” Lynch said, reminding viewers that Sling TV made its debut at the 2015 CES.

Sling TV announced Thursday that it has launched its cloud DVR beta program with a select group of subs that stream the service on Roku players and integrated  Roku TVs.

Sling TV didn’t announce how many subs are participating in this phase of the trial, but those who were selected will receive an email as early as today with additional opt-in instructions, Ben Weinberger, Sling TV’s chief product officer, explained in this blog post.

Sling TV is kicking off the trial as the OTT TV service faces more competition from DirecTV Now and fuboTV, which both have cloud DVRs on their respective roadmaps.  Hulu is also developing a virtual MVPD service but has not announced if a DVR will be part of the offering.  Comcast offers a cloud DVR for its X1 service. PlayStation Vue’s cloud DVR offers unlimited recordings, though customers must watch a TV show or movie within 28 days after it is recorded.

RELATED: fuboTV Scores Deals with Fox Networks, NBCU, A+E Networks, NBA TV

Sling TV announced the beta program in late November.  At launch, beta participants will have access to 100 hours of cloud DVR storage at no added charge, and the ability to record multiple programs concurrently.  Sling TV confirmed earlier that some channels, including ABC, Disney and ESPN networks, will not support the cloud DVR, though it is working toward enabling it for all programming offered on the service.

“We’re not able to grant everyone who requested a beta account immediate access, but don’t worry, we’ll continue to add users throughout the duration of the program,” Weinberger said, directing subs to this web site to register for future phases of the cloud DVR test. 

Sling TV said earlier that it plans to roll out the cloud DVR trial to additional devices/platforms in the “coming months,” and that it is working on other features, including a way for customers to upgrade their cloud DVR storage and to protect recordings. 

In a step toward adding a featuring that’s been lacking in its arsenal, Sling TV said it will test a cloud DVR for Roku users starting next month under an invitation-only beta program.

Unlike the cloud DVR that Sony uses for its OTT-TV service, PlayStation Vue, Sling TV’s version will have a 28-day restriction on shows and movies recorded to the cloud DVR.

Sling TV noted that Cloud DVR functionality, initially available on Roku players and integrated Roku TVs, will not be available on all channels. Sling TV has been asked which channels are not supported by the Cloud DVR trial and if those restrictions are due to specific limitations in Sling TV’s digital rights agreement with programmers.

Update: Sling TV confirmed that ABC, Disney and ESPN networks initially will not support Sling TV's Cloud DVR capability. "Participants in our beta program can expect the DVR functionality to continue evolving. We are working to enable DVR functionality on all the programming we offer; however, ABC/Disney/ESPN networks currently do not allow Sling TV customers to record programming on their networks," a Sling TV official said in a statement. 

Sling TV said the Cloud DVR will be available to beta customers who take the service’s single-stream tier, Sling Orange, and/or its multi-stream offering, Sling Blue, for no extra charge. Interested Sling TV subs can request an invitation via this web page. Sling TV said beta trial participants will have the ability to "record multiple programs simultaneously," but did not specify how many shows can be recorded at the same time. 

Sling TV said it plans to roll out the cloud DVR trial to additional devices/platforms in the “coming months.”  Sling TV’s service currently supports several other platforms, including Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV boxes and Fire TV sticks, Android TV-powered devices, the Google Chromecast streaming adapter, iOS and Android mobile devices, the Xbox One console, and Web browsers. Sling TV is also being integrated with Comcast’s X1 platform, which already offers a cloud DVR service.

RELATED: Sling TV to Stream to Comcast’s X1 Platform

For the Roku trial, Sling TV will integrate the Cloud DVR feature with the service's  “My TV” screen. It will also auto-manage DVR space by deleting the oldest "watched" recording when storage capacity is full. 

The OTT-TV provider noted that it’s also working on other features, including a way for customers to upgrade their cloud DVR storage and to protect recordings. 

“Unlike other OTT services, we’re delivering a true cloud DVR with no 28-day restriction on your recordings, marking another win for Sling TV and our customers,” Roger Lynch, CEO of Sling TV, said in a statement. “Two years ago we became the first live OTT provider, and we continue to innovate and bring the best experience to our customers.”

Sling TV made the announcement on the same day AT&T is expected to reveal more product details, including a launch date, for its new OTT-TV service, DirecTV Now. 

TiVo's future on the retail front wasn’t a big topic on the company’s recent Q3 call, but the company appears to be working on an over-the-air/cloud DVR product that would look to find a home with cord-cutters and compete in the market with products such as the Tablo.

RELATED: Tablo Launches Apple TV App

Based on a trove of documentation about a new device and Android app that is hiding out in the open on the Web, gadget blogger Dave Zatz concludes that TiVo is working on a platform that will let consumers capture OTA TV signals and store recordings in the cloud. Users apparently will be able to access those recordings via the app.

Per a description of a new TiVo app, it will feature a TV program guide, OTA live streaming, cloud DVR access and will work in tandem with the “Diskless Cloud DVR TiVo Device Mantis.”

“This is under development, will be downloaded and tested by TiVo employees who are on the development team for this app or in integration team for hardware,” the descriptpoin continues.

TV Predictions was first to notice that TiVo had filed a trademark application for Mavrik in October, along with a web site that walks-through the setup for the product.  

There’s no word yet on a possible launch date or possible pricing on the Mavrik.

TiVo, which completed its merger with Rovi in September, didn’t deny that the product is in the works.

“While TiVo does not comment on speculation, the company is constantly developing new innovations that fuel the user experience and allow consumers to stay connected to their favorite entertainment,” the company said in a statement.

In September, Zatz found other FCC documents pointing to a TiVo product called “Mantis” that was described as a “network DVR” that’s capable of receiving over-the-air TV signals and transcoding them before shuttling them along to another device for viewing using a wireless or wired connection.

RELATED: TiVo Working on ‘Mantis’

“[I]t’s fairly clear that the unannounced, unreleased TiVo Mantis has gone through something of a rebrand,” Zatz said in reference to the new evidence pointing to Mavrik.

http://zatznotfunny.com/2016-11/tivo-mavrik/

Ericsson said it has notched a two-year deal with Liberty Global properties in Latin America to expand the MSO’s DVR services with Catch-Up TV and Restart TV capabilities.

Ericsson, which will enable that with its video storage and processing platform, said the deal involves VTR in Chile and Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico, operators that are part of the Liberty Global’s LiLAC Group.

"We are looking forward to supporting LiLAC Group in delivering ever-improving content, quality and features that delight TV consumers and meet their unique and ever-changing needs. With our solution we are addressing all customer segments with unique configurations, while providing LiLAC Group with the ability to future-proof and grow as they see necessary,” Adrian Gioia, Head of TV & Media, Ericsson Latin America and Caribbean, said in a statement.

Ericsson has been building out its cloud DVR and cloud video capabilities through acquisitions such as Fabrix Systems in 2014, and Envivio in 2015. Ericsson, which closed its acquisition of Microsoft's Mediaroom business in the fall of 2013, has also been pushing ahead with MediaFirst, a cloud-powered, multiscreen platform for MVPDs and OTT providers. 

Comcast said more 36 schools have joined Xfinity On Campus, its IP-delivered TV service for college students, as the fall semester gets underway.

Comcast launched Xfinity On Campus commercially about two years ago, and added 27 schools to the mix last fall.

New school joining the mix this fall include Northeastern University, University of Notre Dame, Temple University, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern Mississippi, Villanova University and California State University, Fresno. Xfinity On Campus now delivers service on 63 locations. Here’s the current list of XoC partners.

Xfinity On Campus, a service that is underpinned by Comcast’s X1 platform, is currently offered on Web browsers and iOS and Android mobile devices. It’s designed to run on a campus’s managed, closed network, but the service also supports some TV Everywhere fare via the service’s newly app that supports the on-campus service as well as TVE content that's avaialble when students are on the go. 

In addition to live TV and VOD, Comcast has also added a cloud DVR component to the Xfinity On Campus offering. 

Comcast said it is expanding its capabilities in the Twin Cities with a broader rollout of WiFi hotspots, enhancements to X1 and dollars to beef up the network serving area business customers.

On the WiFi front, Comcast said it is adding more than 1,400 public hotspots in “high-traffic” areas such as public parks and recreation areas, retail locations and transit stops. That deployment is slated to be completed by the end of 2016.

Comcast is also enhancing its X1 platform there with the addition of in-home streaming of the MSO’s pay TV service (including live TV and VOD) on tablets, smartphones and Web browsers and extending access to its cloud DVR product.  Comcast is also making Xfinity On Campus, its X1-powered product for universities adn colleges, available to partner schools in the Twin Cities.

Comcast Business, meanwhile, pledged to invest over the next two years up to $15 million in network expansions areas such as Eden Prairie, Oakdale, Brooklyn Park and to downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul. Last year, the unit spent more than $3.2 million to expand fiber to area businesses.

As expected, KlowdTV, a startup that has launched a selection of micro pay TV packages tailored for cord-cutters that are delivered over the top, has launched a cloud DVR product that starts at an extra $1 per month.

Here’s how KlowdTV’s DVR service tiers stack up:

-3 hours for $1 per month

-12 hours for $4 per month

-30 hours for $10 per month

-60 hours for $20 per month.

The first hour, however, is free, an official said.

KlowdTV said users can record multiple shows at once, and can record as many as the level of cloud storage subscribed to can hold.  The range of storage options is there to accommodate both light users and binge watchers.

KlowdTV CEO and cofounder Bill O’Hara told Multichannel News (subscription required) last fall that the company, founded in June 2014, had a cloud DVR product in beta.

KlowdTV’s specialty is contract-free offerings of  several micropackages as well as some channels that are available a la carte.  Its sports package, for example, runs $3 per month, and features channels such as beIN Sports, GolTV, FNTSY Sports network, Outdoor Sport Channel, and FightBox HD, among others.

KlowdTV, which currently offers access to almost 60 channels, including Bloomberg TV, has not released subscriber numbers.

The service is currently supported on Web browsers, Android and iOS mobile devices, Roku players, Amazon Fire TV, Sony and Hisense smart TVs, TiVo, and Samsung Blu-ray players and other devcies that support OperaTV’s app platform. 

TiVo has been testing a network/cloud DVR with several operators, including with Virgin Media, for a while but it doesn’t appear that anyone’s ready to take the plunge just yet. 

“It’s not something that many operators are prepared to move forward with quickly as it relates to their core set-top service,” TiVo president and CEO Tom Rogers said ahead of the company’s Q3 call. TiVo showed off a prototype of its network DVR at the 2014 CES.

“It’s really less about us and our ability to provide it and more about when their readiness will be there, which has a lot of hardware implications for them, as well as content rights implications for them,” he said, noting that “we’ve trialed it, and it works.”

Those legal and storage implications are particularly acute in the U.S., where network and cloud DVR offerings must make individual recordings, versus a more efficient model in which a copy could be shared by multiple subs. It’s the approach that Comcast and Cablevision Systems are using for their respective cloud DVR and “remote-storage” DVR products.

For now, Rogers said there’s more interest among TiVo’s partners on approaches that enable viewers to access and sideload recorded shows via mobile apps and devices, something that TiVo already does, and a capability that Verizon FiOS is starting to introduce on its Quantum TV platform.

Elsewhere in TiVo-land, the company is about to extend two features found on its new Bolt DVR – QuickMode and SkipMode – to its last-gen Roamio DVR family.

Per this TiVo Roamio holiday sale page, QuickMode and  SkipMode are slated for release on TiVo Roamio DVRs on Dec. 10.  

QuickMode enables playback at 1.3 times real time with pitch-corrected audio. However, SkipMode, a feature that lets users skip commercial breaks in recorded shows with the click of a button on almost two dozen channels, will initially be offered on Roamio products in the San Francisco/Bay Area and Chicago markets.

Dave Zatz sends word via his ZatzNotFunny blog that Verizon FiOS TV is starting to introduce a “DVR Anywhere” feature as part of its IMG software 3.0 upgrade.

According to the release notes floating about, DVR Anywhere will allow FiOS TV subs to access their recordings on Internet-connected mobile devices. Additionally, the software update enables in-home streaming of the full live TV lineup on the FiOS Mobile app.

Those features put FiOS TV closer in line with options offered by Comcast’s X1 platform, which allows for in-home streaming of the full TV l lineup and, in several markets, access to a Cloud DVR that lets users stream recorded shows in or out of the home, or download the recording to a mobile device for offline viewing. TiVo, of course, offers similar features on its platform.

In Verizon’s case “you’ll seemingly need both FiOS TV set-box and router hardware in the mix… as the Quantum DVR becomes a video gateway,” Zatz noted pointing out that the update allows for FiOS TV subs to stream the entire channel lineup in the home via the mobile app, versus a smaller subset.

It’s not yet clear if Verizon has rolled out the software update to all eligible customers (we’ve asked Verizon for additional details, but the telco has remained mum so far). However, a customer in New York claims on the DSL Reports message board that the 3.0 release is out in Syracuse and Buffalo.

Other evidence indicates Harrisburg and Philadelphia received the update recently, and FiOS TV systems in line to get it in the coming weeks include Queens, N.Y.; Maryland; New Jersey; Pittsburgh; Texas; Florida and California.

We’ll update this post as more details are known.

Update:  Per a Verizon spokesman, the company expects to complete the rollout of these new features to all FiOS TV markets by around mid-December. The new features will be available to customers who have FiOS Quantum TV and download the FiOS Mobile App. 

Meanwhile, on the product front, Verizon has been hitching its whole-home TV wagon to an Arris-made Verizon Media Server that packs six tuners and 1 terabyte of DVR storage, as well as a new souped-up broadband gateway with on-board 802.11ac WiFi and MoCA 2.0.

So, when I read the news that Sony is “finally killing its ancient Betamax format,” I was shocked. Wasn’t it dead already?

Almost dead, as it turns out. Sony’s about to toss the last heaps of sand on the Betamax grave, 40 years after the format was born.

As CNN and other media outlets reported, Sony will stop making Betamax tapes in March 2016, about 14 years after the company stopped producing Betamax players/recorders.

"This will make the final shipment of all our memory media for Betamax," Sony said a statement, posted here in Japanese.

So, let’s all shed a tear for the platform, which fought (and lost) its battle with the inferior VHS format, which later gave way to DVDs and, still later, Blu-ray (which, as a point on the Sony scoreboard, soundly defeated competing HD DVD format)...up to today and streaming/digital distribution.

But don't be too upset if you're still into Sony's old format. Betamax products still live on at eBay, where one can buy players for several price ranges, spanning $389 for a professionally refurbished Super Betamax (with remote and test tapes), a Sony Betamax Slo 323 Hi-Fi Stereo model for $50, or a Betamax device (for parts or repair only) for $28.95.

And there’s still some Betamax content to be had. On eBay, I spotted Night of the Juggler; A Name for Evil, Dawn of the Dead, and Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes for $9.99 a pop. Return of the Jedi for $30, or a lot of five Disney titles for $29.99. Someone’s selling a box of 24 blank Betamax tapes for $10.

And cable operators owe a debt of gratitude to Betamax, which, in some ways, paved the path to today’s network/cloud-based DVRs.

In the U.S., Cablevision Systems led the way with its “remote-storage” DVR (currently branded as the Multi-Room DVR and able to record up to 15 shows at one time), holding that its approach (customers must manually make their recording, and the system housed individual recorded copies) is protected by the 1984 Sony Betamax decision, which allowed consumers to make individual recordings under fair use and, therefore, weren't infringing copyrights. 

So far, so good. In 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the RS-DVR case.

That has emboldened others to move forward. Comcast, for instance, has been expanding the deployment of its Cloud DVR, which lets X1 subs stream recordings in and out of the home, or download them to a mobile device for offline viewing.  Hints have also emerged that Charter Communications, now helmed by Tom Rutledge, who championed the RS-DVR as COO of Cablevision, is developing  a “remote” DVR.

Thank you, Betamax, and farewell. Your job is done. Rest in peace. 

New Orleans -- Turns out that delivering cloud-based DVR services is a whole lot different than delivering video on demand (VOD), even though the “ordering” process looks essentially the same: Open the app, pick the show of interest, push “play.”

That’s because VOD uses caches to store common content, while cloud-DVR (cDVR) requires an individual copy every time someone pushes “play” -- “which renders CDN caching useless -- this is individual to you, so there’s no caching,” said Neill Kipp, distinguished engineer within the Comcast VIPER (Video IP Engineering & Research) division at Thursday’s “Moving Set-Top Functions to the Cloud Session” here at the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo (and during which Kipp burst into song on several occasions, in order to manage a sudden case of speaker jitters -- it totally worked.).

Comcast began outfitting its systems with cloud-DVR components in 2014 -- mostly load-balanced “Super8” packagers, DASH-based origin servers, and lots and lots of storage. In one region, serving about 180,000 subscribers, the cDVR array stores close to 16 Petabytes of data.

“It’s a huge deployment, a real big thing -- all those discs, we had to buy, rack, and stack; every six weeks, we’d turn up another system,” Kipp said.

From a usage perspective, the cloud DVR service sees the most action “when nothing’s on,” Kipp said. “What we see is that when popular shows are on, people watch live TV -- but when nothing’s on, that’s when we see spikes.”

Asked why the cDVR service settled on MPEG-DASH (Moving Pictures Experts Group/Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP) rather than HLS (HTTP Live Streaming), Kipp and co-presenter Raj Nair, chief technology officer of Ericsson’s Mediaroom line, noted that DASH does a better job of handling multiple audio feeds and multiple codecs

 “HLS throws up its hands and says ‘I wasn’t designed to do that, I was designed to work on an iPad,’” Kipp said, adding: “DASH is a little more powerful.”

When asked if the elimination of local DVR storage signals the end of the set-top box, Kipp gave a provisional yes: “Is  this the beginning of the end of the traditional set-top box? Yes -- don’t make me ship you one, don’t make me roll a truck.”

But whether set-top box, gateway or dongle, “you still need a client,” noted panel moderator Marwan Fawaz, partner with Sarepta Advisors. “The question is whether we’ll still have any local storage in the home.”

Charter Communications continues to move forward on a video strategy that incorporates cloud-based user interfaces and applications, and it now appears that a “remote” DVR is also starting to factor into that game plan.

In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission to show its support of Charter’s proposed merger with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, Cisco Systems noted that it’s working with Charter “on a remote DVR trial for IP video to the home, and on backbone and regional access network upgrades to enhance Charter’s ability to support streamed video traffic through its network to the customer premises.”

The filing, first spottedFierceCable,  also mention that Cisco and Charter are working together to enable IP distribution via WiFi in and out of the home.

Cisco, one of Charter’s suppliers for a next-gen  “Worldbox” that supports a cloud-based interface and apps and is outfitted with a new downloadable security system, doesn’t get into specifics about Charter’s rollout plan for a remote DVR product.  A Cisco official told FierceCable that work continues in the lab as Charter prepares for field trials.

But word of the trial does appear to indicate that Tom Rutledge, Charter’s CEO, is still a fan of the general concept of the network-based DVR. Rutledge, as some might remember, championed the “remote-storage” DVR when he was the chief operating officer of Cablevision Systems.

Cablevision’s product, branded as the Multi-Room DVR, allows customers to record as many as 15 shows at the same time. Those customers can manage their DVR remotely, but playback is currently limited to the set-top box.

Comcast, meanwhile, has been pushing ahead with a “Cloud DVR” for its X1 platform that supports set-tops as well as tablets, smartphones and laptops and lets customers access their recordings at home or when they’re on the go.

Comcast has signed on 27 schools for Xfinity on Campus, its IP-delivered live and on-demand video service for college students, and is adding some new bells and whistles to the platform for the new school year.

A year after Xfinity on Campus launched commercially with seven university partners on board, Comcast said the service will be available this fall at the following schools:  Benedictine College; Brandeis University; Bridgewater College; Chico State; Dartmouth College; University of Delaware; Drexel University; Emerson College; Goucher University; Lasell College; Loyola University Maryland; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Morehouse College; University of New Hampshire; Northwestern University; Regis College; Rider University, St. Michael’s College; Seattle Pacific University; Sonoma State University; Washington & Lee University; and Yale University.

The service is also being at Carnegie Mellon University this fall, and will be rolled out soon to Tennessee State University. Other announced partners include Oregon State University, Champlain College and Lebanon Valley College.

Comcast hopes to bring more schools to the Xfinity On Campus fold later this year, Marcien Jenckes, Comcast Cable’s executive vice president, consumer services, said in a media briefing. Those schools, he noted, need to meet certain technical requirements such as a robust WiFi network on campus.

Jenckes also talked about the strategic importance of Xfinity On Campus, which is powered by Comcast’s cloud-based, next gen X1 video platform.

Xfinity on Campus “allows us to introduce students to our next generation products, services and technologies,” Jenckes said. “Strategically, that was very important for us as we want to show the marketplace that we are evolving to satisfy consumer behavior.”

Comcast also shared some learnings, including some usage trends, it has seen with Xfinity on Campus, which is currently offered on campus WiFi networks on PC and laptop browsers and iOS and Android mobile devices.

Students primarily use their laptops to view content using Xfinity on Demand, explained Jeremy Andreoli, Comcast Cable’s executive director, video services.

Per Xfinity on Campus viewing data, millennial students watch live programming almost twice as much as VOD content – 62% versus 38%.

“If you give students access to live TV, they actually watch it,” Andreoli said.

Led by the NBA playoffs, sports programs have dominated live TV viewing on Xfinity on Campus, followed by Major League Baseball, the Stanley Cup playoffs, NBA games, ESPN’s SportsCenter, Premiere League soccer, and UEFA Champions League soccer matches.

HBO’s Game of Thrones was the most popular VOD title, followed by Keeping Up With the Kardashians (Bravo); Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), The Big Bang Theory (CBS) and Modern Family.

Andreoli said new components coming to Xfinity On Campus later this year include an option to add Comcast’s cloud DVR. In addition to allowing students to stream recorded shows while they are on campus they can also download recorded programs for later viewing on mobile devices.

Comcast is also transitioning Xfinity On Demand to a new consolidated version of the Xfinity TV app and Web site that will support live TV, on-demand and DVR viewing.

Students will also be able to purchase digital movies and TV shows through Comcast’s electronics sell-through platform.

Comcast has not yet committed to bring Xfinity on Campus to TV-connected devices such as Roku boxes and the Apple TV, but does have hybrid deals in place with university partners that also allow students to connect TVs directly to traditional set-top boxes.

“Our goal is to make sure that the end users can consume the content on their terms,” Jenckes said, noting that XoC could evolve to take advantage of Comcast’s “Xi” class of IP-based TV client devices that are used with X1 today.

Comcast, of course, isn’t the only provider that’s making multiscreen connections with university partners. Others include Philo, a startup that landed a $10 million “B” round of funding earlier this year, and Campus Televideo.

Jenckes said competition for such “middle service providers” arose when cable didn’t evolve fast enough to support changing student viewing behaviors.

“They historically filled holes in the marketplace,” he said. “The way I look at it, if we’re doing our job the way we should be doing our job and meeting our customer needs, there isn’t necessarily a need for that middle service.”

Comcast confirmed that it is in the process of freeing up the sixth tuner in most X1-powered DVRs, a move that will give subscribers the ability to record one additional TV show or movie at the same time.

Word of the decision popped up this week on the X1 consumer forum.

“Starting today, July 8, most X1 DVR customers will be able to record more shows simultaneously -- up to six shows depending on which X1 DVR they have in the their home,” it said noting that one model, the Pace-made XG1v1, is unchanged for now, but will be updated soon. Some X1 subs “may not see the six tuners for several days until their firmware is updated,” the post explained. 

With the update, subs with affected XG1s (HD-DVRs with whole-home networking capabilities), will no longer have a dedicated tuner for live TV, meaning they can now record up to six shows simultaneously via one device.

Or record many, many more, in some specific situations. 

Last year, Comcast began to test a new X1 DVR configuration (subscription required), that allows subs to record up to 15 shows at the same time by combining the storage and tuning capabilities of three X1 HD-DVRs.  The freeing up of the sixth tuner, a Comcast official said, would technically enable customers who are involved in those market trials to record up to 18 shows at the same time. 

Whether any customers would need to record that many shows at once is, of course, up for debate. But the move would seem to give Comcast some DVR bragging rights, as it enables it to move past Cablevision Systems, which currently lets network DVR subs record up to 15 shows at once, and will expand Comcast's lead on Verizon FiOS, whose new Quantum TV offering allows customers to record up to 12 shows at once by tying together the functions of two Arris-made Verizon Media Servers (VMSs).

The additional sixth tuner might also come in handy as Comcast expands the deployment of the Xi3, an IP-only HD client that works in tandem with the XG1 HD-DVR as part of a whole-home solution.

Comcast has also been expanding the reach of X1’s cloud DVR product, which currently supports 500 Gigabytes of storage and the ability to record four shows at once, and lets users  download/“check out” DVR recordings for offline viewing on mobile devices.

Comcast said customers on its X1 platform in Central California now have access to the MSO’s cloud DVR and in-home live TV streaming service for Web browsers, tablets and smartphones.

Comcast said the latest launch covers systems serving X1 subs in Chico, Fresno, Marysville/Yuba City, Merced, Modesto, Sacramento, Santa Barbara County, Stockton and Visalia metro areas.

Comcast offers X1 in all markets. The MSO has launched X1's cloud DVR and in-home live TV streaming components in several systems, including those serving the Bay Area; Atlanta and Augusta, Ga.; Connecticut; Baltimore; Boston; Chicago; Houston; Philadelphia (including southern New Jersey and northern Delaware); Washington D.C. (including southern Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia); and the MSO's Keystone region (western and central Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia, and Maryland panhandle).

While live TV streaming via the Xfinity TV app is limited to the customer’s home, Comcast’s cloud DVR allows customers to access recordings in the home or while they’re on the go (via streaming or by downloading them to a mobile device). Comcast’s Cloud DVR provides customers with 500 Gigabytes of storage and the ability to record four shows while watching another.

“These new features -- live in-home streaming and X1 DVR with cloud technology -- give our customers more flexibility for watching their favorite shows and movies in and out of their home,” said Hank Fore, regional vice president of Comcast’s California Region, in a statement. “Now, any screen in the house can become a personal TV, and recorded programs can be accessed anytime, anywhere.”

Comcast has also shown an eagerness to expand the reach of its X1 platform to other MSOs through licencing agreements. Cox Communications is currently testing X1 as it vets its next-generation video strategy, and Shaw Communications of Canada announced last month that it intends to trial X1.

Penthera,  a startup that specializes in software that manages the secure downloading of TV shows, movies and other content to mobile devices, has reupped its existing agreement with Comcast and has notched deals with Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications.

That’s according to Michael Willner, the CEO of Penthera and the long-time cable exec who was set to take the helm of GreatLand Connections, the MSO spin-off that was to emerge from the proposed (and now scuttled) Comcast-Time Warner Cable transaction.

Comcast started to use Penthera’s Cache & Carry system for downloadable titles offered through an older app called the Xfinity Player in 2012, but is now using the technology to support it on the Xfinity TV Go app as well as for Comcast’s Cloud DVR, which lets customers “check out” recorded titles for viewing on mobile devices when they are offline.

TWC and Charter, which are now set to merge under an agreement announced Tuesday (May 26), are in the process of customizing Penthera’s SDK for their respective environments.

Willner said Penthera has several more deals in the pipeline with other MVPDs as well as with some "major” programmers in the U.S. and abroad. He said Penthera hopes to announce its first deals with programmers “within weeks” that will use the company's download engine with their video apps.

Penthera is also in the process of building a next-gen version of its platform that will enable its partners to switch out ads in TV shows that have already been downloaded . Those capabilities, covered in several patents that have been granted to the company, will ensure that the ads in downloaded shows are kept fresh and should position MVPDs to secure additional rights that enable them to expand the amount of titles they can offer in a downloaded fashion. 

While dynamic ad insertion is used widely in streamed video, “in the downloaded world, it becomes more complicated,” Willner said. “It’s not about when you download the program; it’s about when you watch it in order for the content owners to monetize the viewing of that ad by the consumer. “

Under Penthera’s ad-swapping technique, the system is aware of where the viewer is located and when the last time the viewer made contact via the Internet, and can download a fresh set of ads in the background and insert them into the program that was originally downloaded.

 “It’s constantly updating,” Willner explained.

Willner said discussions about adding that capability are underway and the hope is to have it ready to go later this year or in early 2016, noting that the feature will be “critical” in order for Penthera's partners to secure the rights necessary to offer a greater selection of titles for downloading.

“This had to be solved,” he said.

As a business update, Willner said Penthera is considering an admission of new shareholders through a private offering.  Willner and Sidney R. Knafel, co-founders of Insight Communications (now part of TWC), reunited to invest in and lead Penthera in 2012.

 “We don’t need a whole lot of money in order to get to break even,” he said.

In another indication that Comcast is trying to accelerate the rollout of its IP-capable X1 platform, Comcast has lowered the “upgrade fee” for X1 in markets such as Philadelphia, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Though it's not clear that the policy is in place across Comcast's footprint yet, customers in those areas have mentioned on the DSL Reports message board that the upgrade fee, which comes into play when video subs on Comcast’s legacy video platform are moved over to X1, has been lowered to $19.99.

Depending on the market, the original one-time X1 upgrade fee ranged from $49.99 to $99, with Comcast noting then that the fees went toward the development and enhancement of X1 features. Customers on X1, a video service that features a cloud-based user interface and access to apps and other new elements such as in-home video streaming on PCs and tablets and acloud DVR, also require new boxes.

A Comcast customer who was alerted to the smaller upgrade fee for X1 noted on the DSL Reports message board that the price drop -- from $49.99 to $19.99 -- became effective on March 3, 2015, with Comcast citing “changes in business costs." 

Notably, Comcast now offers a self-install option for X1, which should help to reduce deployment costs because it removes truck rolls from the equation (Comcast began to test the X1 self-install kit last year).

Comcast didn’t comment on how it will shape and revise its policy for X1 upgrades in the weeks and months ahead, but this Web page about it still notes that subs who convert to the new platform are subject to a “one-time fee of up to $99 that is assessed, with limited exceptions that vary by market…”

Comcast has not announced how many of its 22.38 million video customers are on X1 today, but did say in October 2014 that it had deployed more than 5 million X1 boxes, and, even prior to that, said it was shipping about 20,000 X1 boxes per day. On that basis, back-of-the-napkin math suggests that Comcast has deployed more than 3.5 million more X1 boxes since late October, pushing its grand total toward 9 million.

Comcast initially rolled out X1 in Boston in May 2012, and now offers it in all systems.

Last fall, Neil Smit, president and CEO of Comcast Cable, reiterated that the current plan is to have the majority of Comcast’s customers on X1 within three years. “We’re right on track,” he said at the time. 

Instead of figuring out who is developing a next-gen hybrid gateway for Comcast’s X1 platform, it might be a helpful exercise to determine who isn’t?

Offering more evidence that Comcast could be nearing the formal introduction of the mysterious “XG2” gateway, a version from U.K.-based set-top maker Pace recently passed through the FCC for testing.

The FCC test documents, first spotted by The Donohue Report, reveal some details on a the coming hybrid (QAM/IP) gateway device (a schematic of the unit is pictured above), with tests run on two boxes – one equipped with a CableCARD module from Arris, and another with a security module from Cisco Systems.  As The Donohue Report notes, it’ll also come with integrated WiFi, Bluetooth and ZigBee radios.

Pace already makes the XG1, an HD-DVR with six tuners that currently anchors the X1 platform, as well as a new IP-only Xi3 client device that Comcast is rolling out in select markets.

It’s also the latest vendor to be tied to the XG2. A model made by Samsung surfaced at the FCC in January, and a rendering of that model made by Cisco Systems has also appeared online. 

Comcast hasn’t revealed any other detail about the XG2, though a source familar with the model said it’s a headed gateway that that doesn’t contain a local DVR, making it a logical candidate for Comcast’s new Cloud DVR. FCC documentation of Samsung's XG2 also showed the presence of an SD card with the “Xfinity Instant Replay” label that will likely be used to buffer up to 25 minutes video – enough for subscribers, for example, to pause, rewind and fast-forward through recently-viewed linear TV programming. Comcast recently started to support that functionality in its Xi3 client devices.

Samsung and Cisco, meanwhile are also among the vendors working on the  Xi4, a smaller, next-gen version of the Xi3 that, a source said, will be capable of supporting 4K video. 

Imagine Communications has closed its acquisition of RGB Networks, a deal announced last month that expands Imagine's ad insertion, video encoding and cloud DVR technology and expertise.

Imagine still has not disclosed the value of the deal, but said when it was announced that about 100 RGB employees would be joining Imagine alongside a plan to merge RGB’s and Imagine’s operations in Sunnyvale, Calif.

“RGB Networks’ technology, people and customers complement and accelerate our vision and roadmap defined by IP, software, cloud and multiscreen,” Imagine CEO Charlie Vogt said in a memo announcing the closure of the deal, its fourth acquisition in the last 12 months. “Video is increasingly at the center of social networking and the media and entertainment we consume. Imagine Communications is poised to lead the industry into the new frontier,” he added. 

Comcast confirmed that it has pushed an update to its “Xi3” client devices that enables the all-IP boxes to buffer as much as 25 minutes of live TV.

Comcast added that capability last month to currently-deployed Xi3s and will be offering it in all Xi3 models shipped to customers from here on out, an MSO spokesperson said. The Xi3, which does not support a local hard drive for DVR functionality (it can access recordings off of the primary XG1 HD-DVR and is expected to support Comcast’s new cloud DVR), buffers live TV via integrated SD (Secure Digital) memory card that carries the “Xfinity Instant Replay” label. The ability to pause live TV on the Xi3 has been high on customer wish lists, according to this thread on the Comcast X1 customer forum.

That feature, which lets Xi3 users rewind, fast-forward and pause recently viewed live TV programming, will apparently also grace a new “XG2” gateway that’s under development, and possibly on the Xi4, a smaller, next-gen version of the Xi3. A Samsung-made XG2 and a Cisco-made Xi4  recently passed through the FCC.

Comcast started to deploy the Xi3 in select markets last fall, noting then that the plan was to make the product “widely available across our footprint” in the first or second quarter of 2015.

The HDMI-connected Xi3 is designed to be a more elegant, non-DVR companion to the primary X1 HD-DVR, able to support the full slate of X1 apps. By comparison, Comcast’s initial batch of non-DVRs (the Pace and Samsung RNG150N) that work in tandem with the X1 HD-DVR and support the MSO's new cloud-based user interface, do not let users pause and rewind live TV. Those RNG-class boxes also support only a subset of X1 apps. This page compares and contrasts the current lineup of equipment, including set-tops and remotes, for X1. 

Comcast has deployed more than 5 million X1 boxes so far. 

You’ve no doubt heard quite a lot about how “the cloud” will revolutionize the way operators do business and you may be skeptical about whether the results will live up to the lofty goals. The reality is that the cloud is already living up to the hype and it is indeed poised to enable operators to do a lot more in the future.

Comcast and Cablevision Systems — cable’s “early adopters” of the cloud — are currently expanding their cloud digital video recorder services, and other operators are in various stages of evaluating and testing their own cloud DVRs. While initially touted primarily as a cost-effective way to offer network DVR services, it has quickly become apparent that having content reside in the cloud enables the delivery of a better DVR service.

For example, whereas set-top box-based DVRs can simultaneously record only as many programs as they have tuners, cloud DVRs open up the gates for much more flexibility. This can be structured to extend revenue to the operator by charging for levels of service for recording, storage and device delivery. Spain-based broadband provider Telefónica believes the subscriber benefits of its popular cloud DVR service are behind the substantial reductions in subscriber churn it is experiencing.

Reduced subscriber churn is a benefit that clearly every operator can understand and appreciate. 

The cloud has been widely deployed for providing complex search and recommendations based on user behavioral data, which also drives up operator revenue through VOD sales. Cloud UI solutions help preserve legacy set-top boxes in the home and keep the price down for new boxes. Features for shopping, applications and advertising all depend on cloud-based technology. These all expand service-based revenue and often drive down capital expenditures.

Additionally, with more and more programming content now residing in the cloud, operators can take advantage of Internet-protocol content delivery to HDMI dongles and other emerging customer premises equipment (CPE). Unlike traditional set-tops, these devices are much smaller, portable and consume much less power, enabling operators to deliver more services in the home and on the go.

Paradigm shift is an overused phrase, but it is applicable when it comes to the cloud. It is affecting virtually every facet of a service provider’s operations, from the headend to the back office, where operators can consider virtualizing their complete user administrative infrastructure with a flexible, scalable solution managed with open-source tools. And again, we have yet to tap its full potential.

The cloud does not just represent a better, lower-cost method to accomplish what was done before. It can dramatically change how the industry operates by improving efficiencies and enabling exciting new services.

Susan Crouse is director of product marketing at Broomfield, Colo.-based video set-top software and middleware maker and technology integration services provider Alticast.

Moving ahead with more video-focused elements of its “TWC Maxx” upgrades, Time Warner Cable has begun to roll out an “enhanced” DVR in Los Angeles and New York City that features six tuners and 1 Terabyte of storage – enough to hold about 150 hours of HD video.

In its multi-room set-up, TWC’s new offering lets customers watch, pause, rewind and fast-forward DVR-recorded shows on up to four other HD set-top boxes in the home.

Update: TWC confirmed that the DVR model being rolled out is the Arris DCX 3600 and is using a cloud-based navigation system for its VOD portal. The hybrid QAM/RF box is equipped with a DOCSIS 3.0 modem. Retail pricing is $15.99 per month for the single room product, and $19.99 for the whole-home set-up, though those prices exclude the set-top box rental fee. Service bundles with the new enhanced DVR in NYC and L.A. is the same as it with TWC's legacy DVR product.

TWC’s new offering will help the operator keep pace with video competitors that have already rolled out next-gen DVR offerings. Among those rivals, Verizon’s new premium-level Quantum TV set-up ties together 12 tuners and 2 TB of storage, while Dish Network’s Hopper HD-DVR with the Super Joey can record up to eight shows at once. DirecTV’s Genie whole-home DVR can currently record up to five shows at once.

Comcast, which is in the process of acquiring TWC, has been testing  a configuration of its X1 video platform that can record 15 shows at once. Comcast is doing this by linking together the storage and tuning capabilities of three X1 HD-DVRs and sharing recorded content between them using Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) technology.

Comcast’s new Cloud DVR product is currently configured for 500 Gigabytes of storage and the ability to record up to five shows at once, and recently added out-of-home access to programming that is recorded in the cloud. Following a recent upgrade, Cablevision Systems’ network-based Multi-Room DVR is now capable of recording 15 shows at the same time.  

TWC has said that its next-generation video platform will use the Reference Design Kit (RDK), a preintegrated software stack for IP-capable boxes that is being managed by Comcast, TWC and Liberty Global, but it was not immedietly known if the product being rolled out this week in NYC and L.A. uses the RDK. TWC announced in April that it had developed its first RDK-based box-- an IP-only HD client box – with Humax.

Time Warner Cable’s new DVR is one piece of its TWC Maxx upgrade initiative. The all-digital effort also features broadband speed upgrades, including a new 300 Mbps (downstream) DOCSIS 3.0 service that replaces its former 50 Mbps offering and an expanded VOD library.

In addition to NYC and L.A., TWC has said that  seven more markets are in line to get the TWC Maxx treatment in 2015: Charlotte, N.C.; Dallas; Hawaii; Kansas City, Mo.; Raleigh, N.C.; San Antonio, Texas, and San Diego.

“DVR customers are passionate about watching what they want, when they want. Our new Enhanced DVR transforms our customers’ TV experience by allowing them to record all their favorite shows at once and store a vast library of programming,” said Peter Stern, TWC’s EVP, chief product, people and strategy officer, in a statement. “Enhanced DVR is just the latest highlight for our customers in the nation’s two largest cities. By the end of this year, customers throughout New York City and Los Angeles will have access to Internet speeds up to 300 Mbps; all-digital TV with the most HD channels of any local provider; and a graphically rich programming guide with up to 39,000 hours of On Demand content choices — all backed with rock-solid reliability.”

Comcast said it has enabled out-of-home access to its Cloud DVR service, a significant enhancement to a product for its X1 video platform that had previously limited viewing of recordings to in the customer’s home  since the operator first introduced the Cloud DVR in Boston roughly seven months ago.

Comcast implemented the out-of-home Cloud DVR feature as it introduced the service in the Bay Area, the eighth market to get it.

Comcast has also launched its Cloud DVR and an in-home live TV streaming service that allows users to watch the MSO’s full linear TV lineup and its VOD service on Web browsers as well as iOS- and Android-powered tablets and smartphones in Atlanta; Baltimore; Boston; Chicago; Houston; Philadelphia; and Washington D.C.

The new cloud-based offerings for X1 also lets customers “check out” DVR recordings by sideloading them to those devices for later playback. Comcast’s Cloud DVR is currently provides customers with 500 Gigabytes of storage and the ability to record four shows while watching another. Cablevision Systems, meanwhile, is already demonstrating how a network-based DVR can offer an almost unlimited number of tuners -- a software upgrade implemented in April pushed the number of shows a Cablevision customer could record at one time to 15.

A Comcast official said the new out-of-home capability, now offered in all of Comcast’s Cloud DVR-enabled markets, marked a technical enhancement to the product rather than a clearing up of any lingering rights issues. Customers can access Cloud DVR recordings on the go via WiFi or 3G/4G cellular connections.

“These new features -- live in-home streaming and X1 DVR with cloud technology -- give our customers more flexibility for watching their favorite shows and movies in and out of their home,” said Matt Strauss, Comcast Cable’s senior vice president and general manager, video services, in a statement. “Now, any screen in the house can become a personal TV, and recorded programs can be accessed anytime, anywhere.”

Comcast has deployed X1 across its current footprint and expects to offer the Cloud DVR and in-home video streaming features to most of its X1 customers by the end of the year.

Comcast, which is using its next-gen X1 service to stem video losses, hasn’t revealed how many of its 22.4 million video customers are on the platform, but has said it is installing upwards of 20,000 boxes a day. Speaking on a panel at last week’s SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in Denver, Labeeb Ismail, Comcast Cable’s VP of CPE software, estimated that the MSO had deployed “upwards of 4 million” devices powered by the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the preintegrated software stack used in Comcast’s X1 boxes.

Comcast is currently offering X1 on boxes with local HD-DVRs called the XG1. The operator is also developing a hybrid QAM/IP "headless" gateway, the XG5, that could be paired with all-IP HD client devices called the Xi3 and, once implemented, could rely solely on the MSO's Cloud DVR infrastructure. During an interview at The Cable Show in April, Strauss noted that the MSO was also working on the Xi4, a video client that will be a smaller version of the Xi3.

Comcast and others are eyeing the use of smaller, less power-hungry IP video devices. In May, Comcast was among the founding members of the Linaro Digital Home Group, an initiative that aims to accelerate the use of ARM-based silicon in digital home applications.The low-power ARM architecture has taken hold in mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones, and now appears to be poised for use in small form-factor video devices, including clients that run the RDK, which is being managed by Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Liberty Global.

Ericsson is adding more cloud DVR and VOD assets and talent to its video roster through a $95 million acquisition of Israel-based Fabrix Systems.

Ericsson, which wrapped up its acquisition of Microsoft’s Mediaroom unit about a year ago and its purchase of Azuki Systems in February, said its latest buy will expand its multiscreen video portfolio.

Fabrix specializes in cloud storage and computing and network-based video delivery. One of its known customers is Cablevision Systems, which is using Fabrix to help power its network-based Multi-Room DVR product that now allows customers to record as many as 15 shows at once following a recent upgrade.

Fabrix has kept its wins close to the vest, but Mario Rainville, Fabrix’s VP of sales and marketing, told Multichannel News earlier this year that the company had “large deployments” with more than 10 tier-1 service providers in North America and Europe.

At this year’s NAB show in Las Vegas, Fabrix showed off targeted ad-insertion system tailored for cloud DVRs (subscription required) that utilized Fabrix’s software running on off-the-shelf servers and relied on an automated, programmatic-style ad-buying/selling model.  Febrix’s demo was run on a camaign-managmenet system from Videology.

Ericsson’s latest acquisition follows upgrades to its Mediaroom platform and a new MediaFirst offering that will be covered in more detail soon by Multichannel News.

“We are investing significantly across our TV platform and video-network areas to extend our market leadership position. Our Media Vision 2020 shows that traditional TV is shifting rapidly towards TV Anywhere and Ericsson's leadership in broadcast, video and networks places us in a unique position to enable the most demanding customers to define and deliver the future of TV,” Per Borgklint, SVP and head of business unit support solutions at Ericsson, said in a statement.

Ericsson said it expects to close the deal in the fourth quarter. Founded in 2006, Fabrix has 103 employees.

Atlanta is the next launch site for Comcast’s cloud DVR and in-home multiscreen live TV streaming – features that are relatively new to the MSO’s IP-capable X1 platform.

The launch in Atlanta follows earlier debuts in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Comcast has also rolled out in-home live TV streaming in the Bay Area, but has yet to pair it with its new cloud DVR offering.

Atlanta is the first market in Comcast’s southern region to get the new cloud-based offerings. In addition to enabling playback of shows recorded to the cloud storage system and the ability to stream and view most of the MSO’s linear TV lineup on PCs, tablets and smartphones, the in-home cloud-based feature also lets users to “check out” DVR recordings by sideloading them to those devices for later playback.

Under Comcast’s present policy, X1 subs are allowed to download up to 10 recordings per device, and is available for playback for up to 30 days. Like a library book, those sideloaded recordings must be checked back in before they are available on the TV and other authorized devices.

"We want to provide our customers with the best television viewing experience on every device, both in and out of the home," said Comcast regional SVP Doug Guthrie, in a statement. "This cloud-based technology enables Comcast to deliver on that promise, and gives customers a more personalized viewing experience."

The new Xfinity TV app for iOS and  Android devices, as well as a dedicated Web portal for browsers, shares much of the look and feel of  Comcast’s X1 UI for the set-top box.

Comcast’s cloud DVR currently lets customers record up to five shows at once and provides 500 Gigabytes of video storage.

Comcast is also testing out a new X1 DVR service (subscription required) that allows subs to record up to 15 shows at the same time. Instead of utilizing the new cloud DVR offering, that pilot service is a localized option for the MSO’s AnyRoom DVR service that combines the storage and tuning capabilities of three X1 HD-DVRs.

Following earlier launches in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and northern Delaware, Comcast said it has expanded the deployment of its cloud DVR and in-home multiscreen live TV streaming feature to new Xfinity TV subs in southern Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

The cloud DVR service, which run on Comcast’s IP-capable X1 platform, also support a “check-out” feature that lets customers download recorded shows for playback on mobile devices and PCs via its new Xfinity TV app. Under Comcast’s currently policy for the feature, customers can download recorded shows to as many as dive devices, and download up to 10 individual recordings per device.

The cloud-powered live TV piece allows X1 subs to stream the bulk of the traditional lineup to smartphones, tablets and Web browsers, but limits access to within reach of the customer's home network. Comcast also offers a subset of live TV channels in and out of the home through its authenticated Xfinity TV Go app.

"We are continuing to give customers a more personalized viewing experience and provide them with a range of ways to enjoy their favorite programs anywhere, anytime," said Tom Coughlin, senior vice president for Comcast’s Beltway Region. "The cloud technology and in-home TV streaming is a natural extension of our X1 entertainment operating system and one more way Comcast is adding value for customers through groundbreaking product innovations,” said Tom Coughlin, SVP for Comcast’s Beltway Region, in a statement.

Comcast said it plans to roll these new cloud-based features to more markets throughout the year. It’s believed that Chicago is among the next on that list.

At last week’s Cable Show in Los Angeles, Matt Strauss, Comcast Cable’s senior VP and GM, video services, said in-home live TV streaming is also available to X1 customers in the San Francisco Bay area, but that the operator had yet to introduce the cloud DVR service in that market.

On Tuesday (May 6), Comcast announced that it is starting to automatically upgrade all of its X1 subscribers to an updated, more personalized version of its cloud-based video interface/navigation system.

Comcast has rolled out its X1 platform in all its cable systems, but has not announced how many of its 22.6 million video customers are on it. However, the MSO did note that it’s currently deploying nearly 20,000 X1 boxes per day.

“I’ll see your ability to record 12 shows at once, and raise you three more,” seems to be the message Cablevision Systems is delivering to Verizon Communications following an upgrade that allows customers to record up to 15 shows at once via the cable operator’s network-based DVR. 

Cablevision’s product, branded as the “Multi-Room DVR,” previously allowed customers to record 10 shows simultaneously. The upgrades enter play about a week after Verizon launched  two new “FiOS Quantum TV” packages that feature souped-up whole-home media servers, including a Premium option that allows customers to record up to a dozen shows at once and provides 2 terabytes of storage – enough to record about 200 hours of HD video.

Cablevision’s upgrade also preempts the new level of DVR competition coming from Verizon, as the telco has so far limited the availably of FiOS Quantum TV to the Dallas, Texas, and Harrisburg, Pa., markets, but plans to extend it to all other FiOS TV markets over the next three months.

Verizon’s Quantum FiOS TV tiers, which supports 1 TB or 2 TB, still has the edge on storage. Cablevision’s network-based DVR product currently offers enough for customers to store up to 300 hours in standard-definition, and 75 hours in HD.

According to Cablevision, the upgraded capabilities were introduced Monday (April 7) and was added automatically to the service, which currently runs on digital set-top boxes (CableCARD devices are not currently compatible with Cablevision’s Multi-Room DVR).

Despite the upgraded recording capabilities, the monthly price for the MSO’s upgraded Multi-Room DVR remains at $12.95 per month. Multi-Room DVR customers also have the ability to manage the DVR at Optimum.net or the Optimum App.

Check this week’s issue of Multichannel News for a deeper look at the pay-TV industry’s recent spate of DVR one-upsmanship (subscription required).