Comcast more than doubles cloud DVR storage for X1 customers

Comcast is increasing X1 cloud DVR storage hours 60 to 150, more than doubling the capacity.

The update – spotted by Light Reading – began launching at the end of April and Comcast said it expects to be done with it before the end of June.

X1 Cloud DVR is available to all customers with X1 DVR service for no extra charge. The service allows subscribers to access their DVR recordings from mobile devices and computers via the Xfinity Stream app or portal. Recordings are held for up to one year or until users exceed their storage limits, depending on the options selected. Completed recordings can be downloaded to mobile devices for "offline" viewing.

The upgrade arrives several years after Comcast initially began rolling out its cloud DVR. The cable operator first began making the feature available in 2014 and has since expanded availability throughout its footprint.

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Fellow cable operators in the U.S. also offer cloud DVR service with varying amounts of storage. Charter’s Spectrum cDVR says it can record up to 50 shows and hang onto them for 90 days; and Spectrum cDVR Plus says it can record up to 100 shows and save them for up to one year. The feature is also common among virtual MVPDs including Sling TV, AT&T TV Now, YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV.

Like most other MVPDs and vMVPDs, Comcast has seen its video subscriber base decline. The company lost 388,000 residential video subscribers in the first quarter, taking its total down to 19.9 million. However, CFO Mike Cavanagh said at an investor conference earlier this year that video is still important to Comcast, in part because of the investments the company has made around X1.

“…We are really well-positioned to provide video through X1 and the traditional bundle for homes where that makes sense for a long time to come and I expect that to continue to be the case,” he said, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript. “But given the rise of streaming and interest in streaming, there are increasingly homes where you can't provide the full experience and expect to make money doing so.”

For its broadband-only subscribers, Comcast offers the Xfinity Flex device and platform, which is based on the X1. The company recently said that it has now deployed one million Flex devices within its footprint.