Skip to main content

Cablevision Battles the Big Media's Myopia

Reuters reports that Cablevision defended its proposed network-based digital video recording service, saying it could create revenue for Hollywood studios that have filed lawsuits to stop it.

Some film studios and TV networks, including The Walt Disney Co. and CBS Corp. say the service would break copyright agreements by allowing subscribers to store programs on the cable operator's computer servers. The studios say Cablevision would effectively be retransmitting programs. Cablevision has said its plan is legal since customers would still control the content being recorded, as with existing home-based digital video recorders (DVRs).

"We actually think it's a big opportunity for content owners and advertisers as well as the distributors," Cablevision chief operating officer Tom Rutledge told a Sanford C. Bernstein investor conference in New York. "I think content owners should embrace this."

Rutledge said network-based DVRs would give owners of programming easier access to what viewers have recorded and allow for more focused marketing campaigns, with advertisers able to update ads on programs that a user has recorded. Rutledge also said network-based DVRs were as legal as DVRs in the living room.

Popular posts from this blog

The Smartphone Market's Premium Pivot

The global smartphone market closed 2025 with a story less about recovery and more about transformation. Premium product, ecosystem lock-in, and manufacturing scale are now the forces shaping competition. For business and technology leaders, the latest IDC market study data confirms that smartphones remain a critical indicator of consumer demand, supply chain health, and AI commercialization at the edge. Smartphone Market Development Global smartphone shipments grew 2.3 percent year-over-year in Q4 2025, reaching 336.3 million units and bringing full-year volumes to 1.26 billion units — a modest 1.9 percent annual increase, according to IDC. This smartphone growth emerged despite a memory shortage crisis, tariff volatility, supply chain disruption, and macroeconomic headwinds. What stabilized demand? Two factors: sustained growth in premium devices and strong foldable momentum, combined with accelerated purchases as consumers bought ahead of anticipated price increases. Buyers weren...