TiVo-Amazon Unbox Direct-to-TV Service Complements Comcast TiVo and Fancast Plans
TiVo has added Amazon Unbox movie and TV content to the Web media it is delivering direct to its broadband-connected TV DVR boxes, just as Comcast has approved a TiVo-branded service to run on the cable operator’s generic DVR's.
On July 10, TiVo subscribers with broadband-connected TiVo Series2 and Series3 boxes became able to browse, rent and buy Amazon Unbox movie and television content direct from their TiVo service. Amazon Unbox offers movies to rent from $1.99 to $3.99, purchase from $9.99 to $14.99, as well as thousands of TV shows to purchase for $1.99 per episode.
The partnership makes Amazon Unbox on TiVo “even easier to use by making it possible to purchase and rent movies and TV shows not only on the Web but also with your remote control,” says Roy Price, director, Amazon Unbox.
TiVo declines to reveal the numbers or broadband boxes it has sold, or the proportion of broadband boxes to its overall 1.7 million standalone TiVo boxes sold, but approximately 43 percent of boxes that can connect to broadband do so now, says Jim Denny, vice president of product marketing for TiVO.
Several weeks earlier, the largest U.S. cable operator, Comcast, gave final approval to a TiVo software solution developed to enable a TiVo-branded version of its DVR service to run on the MSO's generic DVRs, according Tracy Swedlow’s itvt Newsletter. Comcast is expected to commercially launch TiVo service in areas of New England, including Boston, on its largely Motorola-manufactured DVRs, during the coming weeks. TiVo has forged similar development agreements with other MSOs including Cox Communications.
Asked whether TiVo agreements with cable operators might limit Unbox direct-to-TiVo broadband content over cable broadband connections, Denny says, “Unbox will deliver wherever TiVo can be delivered.”
One specific service owned by Comcast itself stands to benefit from TiVo direct-to-TV broadband service: Fandango, the online movie trailer, local theater information and ticket buying service acquired earlier this year by Comcast is already one of multiple TiVo content partners. Comcast plans to incorporate Fandango in a broader national content portal, Fancast, which the operator is expected to launch later this summer. In that context, broadband-connected TiVo boxes could serve as a ready-made direct-to-TV outlet for Comcast’s Web content ambitions.
While Amazon provides movies and TV, and Fandango provides movie information and online ticketing, TiVo also offers photo, weather and traffic content from Yahoo!, as well as Live365 Internet radio network content and IP-based podcast content from BBC World News, The New York Times, iVillage, Slate and other sources that are “all filling different aspects of the overall offering,” Denny says.
“I think Amazon fills a big demand for movies and TV, and we’re happy to make that come together, particularly with being able to purchase on the box, which makes its simpler for the consumer, and that’s key,” he says. “I don’t think there are any further voids we want to fill.”
Both TiVo and Amazon are free to work with like partners, since their partnership is not exclusive. However, TiVo does not presently contemplate pursuing additional movie and TV download partners. “We have other partners with other content for broadband delivery—some 15 to 20 partners listed today,” Denny says. “I don’t know that it makes sense to look for the same content from somebody else.”
Amazon and TiVo say they have fully integrated Unbox browsing with the TiVo Universal Swivel Search function, enabling viewers to link from descriptions of one program to all others that have common elements, including program name, actors, or suggestions based on other viewers' feedback.
The new partners have not announced high definition TV formats as part of the joint service. However, the TiVo Series3 boxes are capable of decoding HD in H.264 and other formats, and “the HD platforms we have are designed with HD downloads in mind,” he says.
According to an early July report from TVPredictions.com, consumers will “quite likely” see a $299 TiVo HD DVR “in the next three months, if not sooner,” amounting to a near 60-percent discount from the current $799 retail price.
For now, TiVo is seeking to boost sales of the standard-definition-capable Series2 box by offering approximately $200 discounts to purchaser of any TiVo Series2 Dual Tuner box with service plan. As a further tie-in, consumers can buy TiVo boxes at Amazon.com.
TiVo-Amazon Unbox Direct-to-TV Service Complements Comcast TiVo and Fancast Plans > Screenplays Magazine > Flash Points
TiVo has added Amazon Unbox movie and TV content to the Web media it is delivering direct to its broadband-connected TV DVR boxes, just as Comcast has approved a TiVo-branded service to run on the cable operator’s generic DVR's.
On July 10, TiVo subscribers with broadband-connected TiVo Series2 and Series3 boxes became able to browse, rent and buy Amazon Unbox movie and television content direct from their TiVo service. Amazon Unbox offers movies to rent from $1.99 to $3.99, purchase from $9.99 to $14.99, as well as thousands of TV shows to purchase for $1.99 per episode.
The partnership makes Amazon Unbox on TiVo “even easier to use by making it possible to purchase and rent movies and TV shows not only on the Web but also with your remote control,” says Roy Price, director, Amazon Unbox.
TiVo declines to reveal the numbers or broadband boxes it has sold, or the proportion of broadband boxes to its overall 1.7 million standalone TiVo boxes sold, but approximately 43 percent of boxes that can connect to broadband do so now, says Jim Denny, vice president of product marketing for TiVO.
Several weeks earlier, the largest U.S. cable operator, Comcast, gave final approval to a TiVo software solution developed to enable a TiVo-branded version of its DVR service to run on the MSO's generic DVRs, according Tracy Swedlow’s itvt Newsletter. Comcast is expected to commercially launch TiVo service in areas of New England, including Boston, on its largely Motorola-manufactured DVRs, during the coming weeks. TiVo has forged similar development agreements with other MSOs including Cox Communications.
Asked whether TiVo agreements with cable operators might limit Unbox direct-to-TiVo broadband content over cable broadband connections, Denny says, “Unbox will deliver wherever TiVo can be delivered.”
One specific service owned by Comcast itself stands to benefit from TiVo direct-to-TV broadband service: Fandango, the online movie trailer, local theater information and ticket buying service acquired earlier this year by Comcast is already one of multiple TiVo content partners. Comcast plans to incorporate Fandango in a broader national content portal, Fancast, which the operator is expected to launch later this summer. In that context, broadband-connected TiVo boxes could serve as a ready-made direct-to-TV outlet for Comcast’s Web content ambitions.
While Amazon provides movies and TV, and Fandango provides movie information and online ticketing, TiVo also offers photo, weather and traffic content from Yahoo!, as well as Live365 Internet radio network content and IP-based podcast content from BBC World News, The New York Times, iVillage, Slate and other sources that are “all filling different aspects of the overall offering,” Denny says.
“I think Amazon fills a big demand for movies and TV, and we’re happy to make that come together, particularly with being able to purchase on the box, which makes its simpler for the consumer, and that’s key,” he says. “I don’t think there are any further voids we want to fill.”
Both TiVo and Amazon are free to work with like partners, since their partnership is not exclusive. However, TiVo does not presently contemplate pursuing additional movie and TV download partners. “We have other partners with other content for broadband delivery—some 15 to 20 partners listed today,” Denny says. “I don’t know that it makes sense to look for the same content from somebody else.”
Amazon and TiVo say they have fully integrated Unbox browsing with the TiVo Universal Swivel Search function, enabling viewers to link from descriptions of one program to all others that have common elements, including program name, actors, or suggestions based on other viewers' feedback.
The new partners have not announced high definition TV formats as part of the joint service. However, the TiVo Series3 boxes are capable of decoding HD in H.264 and other formats, and “the HD platforms we have are designed with HD downloads in mind,” he says.
According to an early July report from TVPredictions.com, consumers will “quite likely” see a $299 TiVo HD DVR “in the next three months, if not sooner,” amounting to a near 60-percent discount from the current $799 retail price.
For now, TiVo is seeking to boost sales of the standard-definition-capable Series2 box by offering approximately $200 discounts to purchaser of any TiVo Series2 Dual Tuner box with service plan. As a further tie-in, consumers can buy TiVo boxes at Amazon.com.
TiVo-Amazon Unbox Direct-to-TV Service Complements Comcast TiVo and Fancast Plans > Screenplays Magazine > Flash Points
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