Look Out For “Look Back”, The Free DVR Service
According to the New York Times today, Time Warner Cable will offer a free “DVR-like” service to it’s customers, called Look Back.
The good news? There’s no extra monthly fee.
The bad news? You can’t fast-forward commercials. And…you can’t save the shows, and, you have to watch the programs on the same day, before midnight (almost sounds like a Time Warner “Gremlin”).
Starting in October, in South Carolina, and working it’s way across the country, Look Back will be a tested in different markets to see if it takes flight. At the moment they’re still shopping around for channels that will take part.
The reason Time Warner created this service is because they believe that advertisers and consumers have similar interests. Peter Stern, executive VP for new product development said “Many customers do fast-forward through commercials when given the choice, and that is an obvious and undeniable benefit of a digital video recorder. But the digital video recorder is principally about enabling customers to watch what they want, when they want. It returns control to customers over the television schedule.â€? Basically, you’ll watch commercials if you have control over what you watch.
Well…it is free “time-shift viewing”. It’s genuine competition for companies like TiVo and Comcast. Jeffrey L. Bewkes (president of Time Warner Inc.) said in July, “People are used to advertising. A good number of people like the advertising. Our research and our in-market tests show people would rather have free everything you want, when you want.â€?
Maybe they’re right, maybe they’re wrong. It’s all up to you, Americans!
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