Sky unveils new personal video recorder

The personal video recorder, a device feared by advertisers for its ability to let digital television watchers skip the ads, has made its New Zealand debut with the unveiling of Sky Television's new "My Sky" service.

But local viewers will only be able to fast-forward commercials, rather than skip them entirely as is possible on some overseas services.

The My Sky digital set-top box, which will be formally launched on December 5, will offer Sky's digital subscribers the ability to record up to 60 hours of television to a hard-disk drive to be viewed at any time. It will give them the ability to pause live TV, record two channels at once and can be programmed to automatically record every episode in a series with the single click of a button.

"Effectively it means you run your own TV station," said Sky chief executive John Fellet, who said viewers could play the shows they want, when they wanted to see them.

But he said the company chose not to adopt a commercial-skipping box, as it did not want to destroy the business model of free-to-air television, on which demand for Sky's services piggyback in many areas with poor television reception.

"It is the same conclusion they reached in the UK, the US and Australia - I think it makes sense," said Mr Fellet. "I don't think PVRs or My Sky mean the death of the 30-second slot."

My Sky comes with a $599 one-off connection and installation fee, which Mr Fellet said was cheaper than the hard-drive DVD recorders it competes with. There will be no extra monthly fee, on top of normal Sky subscription fees, which start at $44 a month. If existing subscribers keep their current decoder as well, they get a $100 discount.

The device will be linked to Sky's electronic programme guide to allow recording by clicking on a programme title, and similarly simple recording of an entire series.

Sky has ordered 20,000 PVRs, with the first to arrive in November.