Cablevision Systems Corp. has begun to deploy RS-DVRs with limited functionality in some homes, but the MSO is still several months away from deploying the DVR throughout its New York area footprint.

During Cablevision’s fourth-quarter earnings call in February, president and COO Tom Rutledge said that Cablevision would develop its RS-DVR in April, initially offering limited functions through the product, including allowing viewers to pause live TV when a caller ID message is displayed on their TV screens.

“In April, we will have a limited function RS-DVR, and by year-end we intend to cease buying physical DVRs as we begin deploying our network-based DVR solution throughout our footprint,” Rutledge said. (See Cablevision Preps Network DVR, WiFi Phone).

Cablevision spokesman Jim Maiella said Friday that Cablevision has deployed the RS-DVR functionality in some customer homes, but he wouldn’t say how many homes have the product, or which towns they are located in. “I can confirm that we have limited deployments of both the pause live TV with caller ID functionality and a limited-function RS-DVR service in homes in our New York city service area,” Maiella said in an email message.

Rutledge may offer more details on Cablevision’s RS-DVR plans on May 6, when Cablevision is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings and hold a conference call with analysts. Cablevision is the first US cable operator to pursue a network-based DVR service.

Cablevision has been working for several years to deploy a network DVR. In 2006, several studios sued the company, claiming that its RS-DVR would violate copyright laws. A court originally ruled in favor of the studios, but an appeals court reversed that ruling in the second half of 2008. Last summer, the US Supreme court declined to hear an appeal from the studio and network group, which cleared the way for Cablevision to roll out its RS-DVR. (See Court Resurrects Cablevision's Network DVR and Supremes Stand Clear of RS-DVR Case.)

— Steve Donohue, Special to Light Reading Cable