This article was produced by Olswang LLP, which joined with CMS on 1 May 2017.
What do we mean by "cloud PVRs" (also commonly referred to as "network PVRs", "nPVRs", "nDVRs" "Remote PVRs", "Remote Storage PVRs" or "RS-PVRs")?
Like in-home personal video recorder (PVR) set-top boxes, cloud PVR services allow for the time-shifting and/or place-shifting of broadcast television. The key difference between cloud PVR services and PVR set-top boxes is that in a cloud PVR service the physical recording is made not in the user's home on a hard drive built into their set-top box but, rather, remotely, in the cloud. The content is then streamed from the cloud to one or more user devices. Services tend to fall into two broad categories, as shown below, although with technology and business models evolving rapidly, we are seeing services pop up that do not neatly fall into any existing categorisation.
Model A
User-Initiated- Like a set-top box, only remote
A user initiates a recording of a broadcast television, as they would they PVR set-top box. The recording is then made and stored remotely and the recorded programme is only accessible to the user that initiated the recording in their own "private cloud".
Model B
Non-User Initiated- Everything is recorded
All content on specific channels is captured centrally by the cloud PVR service provider as that content is broadcast, without being initiated by the end user. End users can access the programmes, either via simultaneous streaming or in some cases on demand.
