Time Warner’s Cable division is testing a roll-out of a DVR feature they’re calling “Start Over”.

The test is very limited - it will only be available for some shows, on some channels, broadcast in some areas.

Viewers luckily enough to get the Start Over service will be able to “rewind” to the beginning of a program, to a maximum of up to 2.5 times the program length.

This comes after Cablevision’s previous attempt to roll-out a full-scale network DVR solution was blocked by broadcasters, especially worried about copyright issues and the feared hit to commercial revenues with commercials being skipped.

The issue is currently being contested in the US Federal courts.

Time Warner’s softly-softly approach is therefore at attempt to provide a small-scale DVR pilot on a network, to test how useful DVR solutions may be for viewers - while at the same time trying to address problems and concerns from broadcasters.