Post by dkennedy on Dec 1, 2005 6:11:33 GMT -5
TiVo adds movie tickets, photos to offerings
November 30, 2005
By David Lieberman, USA TODAY
NEW YORK — TiVo hopes to raise the stakes today in its battle with cable and satellite digital video recorders (DVRs) by introducing a suite of broadband-related services that enable many subscribers to use their TVs to buy movie tickets, share photos, check local weather and traffic, listen to radio podcasts and play games.
The DVR pioneer is teaming with movie-ticketing service Fandango, Yahoo and programming service Live365. The three will offer interactive TV versions of their offerings to people with home networks connected to TiVo's most popular stand-alone DVR.
"It's a different kind of offering," says CEO Tom Rogers. "The core reason someone buys TiVo is to be sure there's always something good on TV. It's become clear, though, that people are also looking at TiVo as something more than a DVR, something that manages digital media in the home."
The company says it isn't simply putting Web pages on TV. The services look like other TiVo functions, and, like them, are operated using the remote. "The number of remote control clicks is minimized," says Jim Denney, vice president of product marketing. "And it has a TiVo feel to it."
In the new services:
• Users who give their ZIP codes to Fandango can call up text about local movie offerings and charge tickets to their credit cards. TiVo eventually wants to connect the service to its movie ads so viewers who watch a trailer can instantly buy a ticket.
• People who create free accounts with Yahoo will be able to use its Yahoo Photos service. They can use their TVs to view photos that friends or family have put online. Also, Yahoo will provide local weather forecasts and traffic reports.
• Those who sign up with Live365 can listen to streamed broadcasts of its user-created radio stations. Audio won't be CD quality, but users who want better audio can pay for a premium service.
• TiVo will enable users to select and listen to streamed podcasts, radio shows made available on demand. In addition, it will offer some simple games, including a Scrabble-like word game.
The services will be available to the 300,000 of TiVo's 1.3 million stand-alone subscribers who've connected the DVR to their home networks. It won't be available to the 2.7 million who get TiVo through DirecTV.
While the services may provide a little revenue, TiVo sees them as part of a series of recent enhancements aimed at luring new customers and advertisers. TiVo's also intrigued by home networks: About 28% of the people who buy DVR service directly from TiVo have one, up from almost 12% a year and a half ago.
And TiVo desperately needs new stand-alone subscribers: DirecTV has stopped promoting TiVo in favor of an in-house DVR.
November 30, 2005
By David Lieberman, USA TODAY
NEW YORK — TiVo hopes to raise the stakes today in its battle with cable and satellite digital video recorders (DVRs) by introducing a suite of broadband-related services that enable many subscribers to use their TVs to buy movie tickets, share photos, check local weather and traffic, listen to radio podcasts and play games.
The DVR pioneer is teaming with movie-ticketing service Fandango, Yahoo and programming service Live365. The three will offer interactive TV versions of their offerings to people with home networks connected to TiVo's most popular stand-alone DVR.
"It's a different kind of offering," says CEO Tom Rogers. "The core reason someone buys TiVo is to be sure there's always something good on TV. It's become clear, though, that people are also looking at TiVo as something more than a DVR, something that manages digital media in the home."
The company says it isn't simply putting Web pages on TV. The services look like other TiVo functions, and, like them, are operated using the remote. "The number of remote control clicks is minimized," says Jim Denney, vice president of product marketing. "And it has a TiVo feel to it."
In the new services:
• Users who give their ZIP codes to Fandango can call up text about local movie offerings and charge tickets to their credit cards. TiVo eventually wants to connect the service to its movie ads so viewers who watch a trailer can instantly buy a ticket.
• People who create free accounts with Yahoo will be able to use its Yahoo Photos service. They can use their TVs to view photos that friends or family have put online. Also, Yahoo will provide local weather forecasts and traffic reports.
• Those who sign up with Live365 can listen to streamed broadcasts of its user-created radio stations. Audio won't be CD quality, but users who want better audio can pay for a premium service.
• TiVo will enable users to select and listen to streamed podcasts, radio shows made available on demand. In addition, it will offer some simple games, including a Scrabble-like word game.
The services will be available to the 300,000 of TiVo's 1.3 million stand-alone subscribers who've connected the DVR to their home networks. It won't be available to the 2.7 million who get TiVo through DirecTV.
While the services may provide a little revenue, TiVo sees them as part of a series of recent enhancements aimed at luring new customers and advertisers. TiVo's also intrigued by home networks: About 28% of the people who buy DVR service directly from TiVo have one, up from almost 12% a year and a half ago.
And TiVo desperately needs new stand-alone subscribers: DirecTV has stopped promoting TiVo in favor of an in-house DVR.