[Ecommerce] TiVo taps the Internet for content

[Manon Ress]

TiVo taps the Internet for content

http://news.com.com/TiVo+taps+the+Internet+for+content/
2100-1026_3-6135337.html?tag=nefd.lede

By Candace Lombardi
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: November 14, 2006, 9:26 AM PST

TiVo enthusiasts will soon be able to use their devices to watch
Internet video content on their TV set, the company announced Tuesday.

The company's expansion as a broadband video portal, as well as a
manufacturer and television interface provider, includes three new
software features and several content partnership agreements.

Owners of TiVo's digital video recorders will be able to share home
videos with other users. Through a partnership with One True Media,
an online video and photo service, TiVo users can upload home video
to the Web and share a channel code with other TiVo owners.

TiVo also announced Tuesday that it has expanded its TiVoCast
offerings. TiVoCast is a service that offers broadband video content
from companies via the TiVo box. TiVo said it signed a deal with CBS
Interactive to provide content from CBS.com, CBSNews.com, CBS
SportsLine.com and Innertube (CBS' broadband channel).

TiVo also signed deals for TiVoCast content with Reuters; Forbes;
dLife, a health content network; Plum TV, a lifestyle network
featuring vacation hot spots; and Nano Network, an independent film
and theater outlet.

In addition to the One True Media partnership and the TiVoCast
offerings, the company announced a broadband video service for
watching Web videos on TV. That broadband video service requires TiVo
Desktop Plus 2.4, which will be free for version 2.3 owners and
$24.95 for TiVo subscribers. TiVo Desktop Plus 2.4 converts videos in
QuickTime, WMV and MPEG-4 formats into a TV-viewable format and
enables them to be imported to the TiVo box. The software must be
downloaded to a PC running Windows XP that is connected to the TiVo
box either directly or via a home network.

"The real question is whether this (addition of Internet video
access) is going to sell more TiVo boxes, and I think the answer to
that is no," said Josh Bernoff, a Forrester Research analyst.

"Internet video looks pretty crappy when you put it on a big TV set,
and transcoding doesn't solve that," Bernoff said. "I am a lot of
more encouraged that they are making relationships with content owners."

TiVo has been struggling to gain new subscribers. In March, the
company signed a partnership with cable provider Comcast to provide
software to its DVR boxes. The deal will give TiVo access to
Comcast's 23.3 million cable subscribers, but the product has been
slow in reaching the market.

As companions to all the new content available, TiVo said it will be
offering a new search feature in 2007 for finding and recording
content across "broadcast, cable and broadband content sources." An
additional deal with International Creative Management will also
offer TiVo owners new TV show and film recommendations from famous
Hollywood actors and directors.

Adding new features is usually a tool used to retain existing
customers, Bernoff said. While retention is a problem for cable
providers afraid of losing customers to satellite television,
customer retention has not been a problem for TiVo. TiVo's challenge,
Bernoff said, is to acquire new customers.

"You are about to see, starting in 2007, announcements from a bunch
of new Internet-connected DVRs and, of course, TiVo's competition is
and continues to be from the cable and satellite boxes available for
free across the United States."

DVR owners are mainly interested in three things from their DVR: "to
skip commercials easily, pause live TV, and record and view all
episodes of a given show," Bernoff said, referring to a Forrester
Research survey.

"All the new features...may make the TiVo box a whole lot more
interesting to the TiVo owner, but it's very obscure stuff to be
selling to a potential customer," Bernoff said. "They're not saying,
'Well, if only I could get access to Internet video, then I'd buy a
TiVo box.'"

************************************************
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

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