Time Warner Cable's original network DVR service "Mystro" received rave reviews from trial participants, but the company scratched the system because of legal threats from the broadcast industry. Networked DVRs, which store your content at the network head-end, scare copyright holders and broadcasters, who believe they violate existing laws and threaten their control of their content. Cablevision recently scuttled a similar effort for the same reasons.

Time Warner Cable then revamped (read: scaled down) the idea, launching a VOD service dubbed "start-over" in several markets. As the name indicates, the service only lets you start programs over -- while content is still stored remotely. Unfortunately, the "DVR-lite" service won't let you fast forward through ads. It also only works for "selected" shows and channels, according to Time Warner, though that lineup is ever growing.

At the NCTA cable show this week, Time Warner Cable announced they'd soon be offering customers a new service called "Catch-Up," which allows subscribers to watch previously broadcast episodes of popular TV series, and "Quick Clips," which would offer video content from the web via the company's Scientific Atlanta DVRs. Industry execs say they're just scratching the surface of VOD; will the cable industry ultimately try to replace the DVR with VOD?