Verizon announced their latest FiOS promotion which offers free HD DVR or free Home Media DVR service for 12 months. Their Home Media DVR is a multi-room DVR service and allows the viewing of recorded programs on up to six televisions throughout the home. Multi-room features are increasingly becoming a competitive differentiator among telco and cable competitors. Verizon’s new promotion is coming on the heels of Cablevision winning a network DVR court case that conceivably will allow them to offer a network DVR product. Network DVR allows service providers to offer DVR services without the need for a DVR capable set top box in the home, resulting in a potentially lower cost DVR service. Time Warner is also eyeing a network DVR product as a result of the court win. Is Verizon’s move a pre-emptive strike against network DVR? Perhaps. There are certainly other considerations for the promo, but it sure doesn’t hurt to have it in your back pocket when/if your cable competitors roll out a network DVR product. The promotion runs through October 4th.
