SOME Time Warner customers are about to get a second chance to see the beginnings of their favorite shows.
The cable giant will introduce a new technology tomorrow that will allow viewers to restart a show they may have missed from the beginning with the press of a button.
“Start Over” will be available to current subscribers who use HD cable boxes, starting on Staten Island and rolling out across the rest of the five boroughs by the end of the year. So far 40 channels will offer the feature with more on the way.
“If you’re watching ‘Law & Order’ but you’ve missed the first five minutes – you end up missing the whole set up for the episode,” says Howard Szarfarc, executive vice president of Time Warner Cable’s New York City region.
“Now you can press the Start Over button and watching it from the beginning,” he says.
The feature works up to one minute before the program is over, and as part of an agreement between Time Warner and broadcasters, unlike a DVR, viewers cannot fast forward through commercials.
The cable company is offering it to HD subscribers first, as they are considered premium customers. By the time “Start Over” is available city-wide, any customer with a digital cable box will be able to use the feature.