The Swiss based online video service Zattoo has announced the launch of an ‘endless PVR’, allowing viewers to record up to 30 days of programming of all available channels.
The new PVR service is launched in Switzerland. All Zattoo viewers can use it for free during a one month test period, after which they have to subscribe to Zattoo. Once activated, the new service will allow viewers to record all 81 channels that are available on Zattoo for a period of 30 days, 24 hours a day. Of course people can also decide to just record one or more channels.
By recording all channels, people will have access to 81 x 30 x 24 hours = 58,320 hours of catch-up television. This creates the best possible catch-up TV service, which can be accessed using the EPG.
What Zattoo seems to do is to centrally record all 81 channels. This practice is bound to provoke reactions from broadcasters and content owners, who so far have tried to ban any form of network-PVR. In the past, tge two main German commercial broadcasting groups, RTL and ProSiebenSat.1, have also protested against Zattoo carrying the live streams of their channels. However, the legal situation in Switzerland seems to give Zattoo the possibility to continue to offer these channels. It remains to be seen if this practice can also be extended to network-PVR recording.
