Telewest Broadband has entered an agreement with Scientific-Atlanta for the supply of new personal video recorder (PVR) set-top boxes, which will be made available to its cable TV customers later this year.

The new PVR set-top box incorporates a substantial 160Gb hard drive and three video tuners, which will allow viewers to receive Telewest Broadband's digital TV service and record two programmes simultaneously while watching a third. This is a step forward from many existing PVRs, which can only manage two channels at once.

The set-top box will also allow customers to pause and instantly rewind live TV if their viewing is interrupted, so they never have to miss a moment of their favourite programmes again.

A simple on-screen menu will make the service easy to use for even the most technophobic households and, once recorded, programmes can be controlled like a DVD or video, without the hassle of tapes. The device will be able to store around 80 hours of programmes.

The Telewest Broadband PVR will also deliver high-definition TV (HDTV) content in the future - offering a significant improvement in picture quality compared with today's standard-definition digital TV broadcasts, especially on larger plasma and LCD screens.

Eric Tveter, president and chief operating officer at Telewest Broadband, said: “We will make our personal video recorder set-top box available later this year, putting a stop to missed soaps, interrupted films and arguments over which programmes to record. It's a fantastic box of TV tricks that people will wonder how they ever survived without!”

The Scientific-Atlanta agreement follows this week's launch of the first phase of Telewest Broadband's new TV-on-demand service, which will offer a choice of additional movies, TV programmes and specialist content via customers' remote controls.

Eric Tveter added: “Telewest Broadband's unique combination of personal video recorder and television-on-demand services will mean our customers have the best of both worlds - freedom from the TV schedule with PVR control, and on-demand access to a wider selection of movies and TV content. It's not about offering people more TV, but giving them the freedom to watch exactly what they want, when they want.”
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Notes to editors
Telewest, the broadband communications and media group, currently passes and markets to 4.7 million homes and provides multi-channel television, telephone and internet services to 1.76 million residential customers. For further information go to http://mediacentre.telewest.co.uk

The cable company announced the first phase of its TV-on-demand service on 18 January 2005. Over 2,000 customers in Bristol are able to access movies-on-demand via their remote control, which they can then control like a DVD for a 24-hour rental period. Further TV and specialist content will become available later this year, as the service is launched in cable areas around the country.

High-resolution Telewest Broadband images are available for the media to view and download free of charge from www.vismedia.co.uk.

For further press information
John Moorwood, Telewest Brodband – 01483 582 802 or john.moorwood@telewest.co.uk
Rachel Turner, Telewest Broadband – 01483 582140 / 07985 805805 or rachel.turner@telewest.co.uk