[jfman]

I fail to see how it could reasonably be described as having no obstacles.

The difference to broadcasters is you have a finite amount of recording space. So while you may keep a limited amount of content (and most of it temporarily) this would allow almost four million households to hold a significant back catalogue of broadcast television through series links without ever having to worry about running out of space.

All the while some of the same content providers are considering a subscription platform for their back catalogues. As Hugh points out content providers want more control of reruns and overseas distribution, not less.

Liberty will have more success with this in non-English speaking markets where distribution through cable is more likely to be the platform of choice for delivery of any enhanced services and the content providers aren’t also the owners of rival platforms.