Audio Video News

Here's the good news: Time Warner Cable subscribers will be able to view already-aired programming at the touch of a button. And now here's the bad news: The fast-forward function is disabled.

The service is called Look Back. It will make its debut in October, in South Carolina, before spreading round the country. You can't beat the price--it's free. Presumably it will require the use of a TWC-supplied cable box. Some TWC subscribers also have access to feature called Start Over, which restarts programs in progress.

Freedom to skip ads has been a cherished tradition since the introduction of the Betamax, but cable companies have had it in their gunsights for some time, because it undercuts the process of selling eyeballs to advertisers. Cox is already disabling FF in select video-on-demand channels. The advertiser-friendly approach may partly explain the enthusiasm of cable companies for the network DVR.

If subscribers continue opting for cable-supplied DVRs, ad-free viewing may become rarer and rarer. Of course, there's always TiVo.