Canberra, Australia-based Mediaware says that its digital video editing and processing technology is being used to enable Time Warner Cable's new "Start Over" service. The free service--which is also based on technologies that were developed under the auspices of Time Warner Cable's now-defunct headend-driven PVR project, MystroTV, as well as on Real-Time Catchers from Concurrent Computer (see [itvt] Issue 6.39 Part 2)--allows the operator's digital customers to pause and rewind live TV and restart TV shows that are already in progress, though it does not allow them to fast-forward through commercials. The initial launch of the service was carried out by the operator's South Carolina division, which is now offering it to 10,000 customers in Irmo, a suburb of Columbia, SC. Time Warner Cable says that the service will expand to serve 137,000 customers in South Carolina in the coming months, and that it will be rolled out in several other markets next year. When customers tune to a Start Over-enabled show, an on-screen prompt alerts them to the availability of the service: when they press "select" on their remote, the program starts again from the beginning. The service is only available during a show's broadcast.
"We are pleased to be a part of such an important project with Time Warner. This service has the potential to re-shape how people watch TV, and our technology is a critical enabler of its successful deployment," Mediaware CEO, Chris Newell, said in a prepared statement. "Video-on-Demand is an increasingly important market for us, and as Start Over rolls out nationwide, we expect to see significant revenue growth from this project, as well as other VOD efforts." Mediaware's other customers include Tandberg Television, Gotuit Media and IMAKE.
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