MobiTV is releasing a network PVR (nDVR) as a standalone licensable solution to service providers.
The MobiTV nDVR navigates complex rights management across countries by configuring for any of the governing international rules. Available to cable television service providers, wireless carriers and other network operators, MobiTV’s nDVR was developed and, previously, exclusively available only as an element of MobiTV’s end-to-end multiscreen platform.
Network PVR allows viewers to record and store television content in the cloud, rather than on a PVR box in their home. As a result, consumers can record an unlimited number of programmes at any time and retrieve them anywhere, inside or outside the home, on connected devices.
Since the network PVR does not store programming on the device in the home, it untethers consumers so that they may watch the content anytime, anywhere.
MobiTV has implemented two modes for recording and storage to accommodate user and content rights for geographies around the world:
The first one involves the making of ‘master copies’. Constant recording of a single, cloud-based master copy of all channels offered by a service provider that can be accessed by consumers. This configuration does not require the viewer to initiate recordings and, in effect, offers “catch-up TV” and video-on-demand for any programme across multiple authorised devices, since all channels are continuously recorded.
The second is ‘personal copies.’ Individual programmes are written to a cloud-based storage area for the individual subscriber, with a pre-designated configurable amount of available storage. When combined with MobiTV’s DRM solution, personal copies are secured, fully cacheable and support scalable and efficient delivery.
“Rights management has long been a difficult process for service operators to navigate on an international scale,” said MobiTV CEO Charlie Nooney, in a statement. “The MobiTV nDVR removes barriers for operators and provides the solution for a true TV Everywhere experience.”
Current international digital rights management for cloud-based PVR systems is a complex set of rules. The MobiTV nDVR claims to be a policies-based system that enables network operators to honour restricted digital rights requirements, permitting recording inside or outside the home as the rights allow.
