New York -- Time Warner Cable is getting ready to test a new headend-based digital-video-recorder-like service called “Start Over” in Columbia, S.C., later this year -- its answer to the more ambitious “Mystro” project that was scrapped last year due to copyright-infringement fears.
Time Warner Cable chairman and CEO Glenn Britt said at the Banc of America Securities Media Telecommunications & Entertainment conference here Wednesday that with Start Over, the MSO would make programs available from broadcasters only during their live broadcasting window.
For example, if a customer came home at 9:15 p.m. and wanted to watch a program that started at 9 p.m., he or she could hit the Start Over button on their remote and watch the program from the beginning.
Users of the feature would also have to watch all of the commercials during the program -- Start Over disables the fast-forward feature on the remote. That pleased broadcasters, which have fretted over customers speeding through commercials on their DVRs.
