Disney Movies, Courtesy TiVO

In a new move, TiVo Inc. is going to allow it’s subscribers to download Disney movies from their TV sets, direct. An agreement with Disney and CinemaNow will allow customers to rent Disney movies for 24 hour periods. TiVo’s DVR harddrives will store the films temporarily.

Faced with increasing competition from cable and satellite companies, TiVo is trying to give its subscribers more on-demand content. More than 30,000 titles are already offered by TiVo via Amazon.com, Music choice and such other companies.
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Money For Nothing and TiVo for Free

Alright we weren’t right about the money for nothing bit, but TiVo might just be free in the land down under after all. Reports from Australia say that TiVo would be offering it’s DVR without monthly subscription fees in that country. In league with Aussie media giant Seven Media Group, the service is in line to be out over the summer. TiVo is to earn money through licensing revenue rather than monthly membership fees.

The move is definitely revolutionary and in this highly competitive market, TiVo needs the boost a “free” tag gives, given that it does not enjoy first mover advantage. If this strategy is rolled out in America, it will probably be the rage. I doubt TiVo is likely to roll out this offer in America though. The reasons are purely monetary. Why would TiVo give up a fat subscription fee, specially when it’s rivals are still charging customers.
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TiVo Lifetime Service Once Again!

The lifetime service plan of TiVo which keeps appearing from time to time is back. Earlier customers had two options. Either they could pay for service every month or pay a few hundred dollars for lifetime service.

Some time back the lifetime service option was cast away. When TiVO launched the Series3 HD recorder the lifetime service plan reappeared. Over the last one and a half years, ocassioanally, new and existing customers have been allowed to pay for lifetime service. It was always apparent that the offer was a one time promo.
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Idol Results Predicted by TiVo?

Idol results have been predicted by TiVo operators. What is impressive is that many of these predictions have been true. American Idol results every week have been Nostradamically foretold by TiVo DVR operators.

20,000 US subscribers use the TiVO StopWatch product. This allows monitoring of fastforwarding and rewinding of recorded programs. This information is then analyzed. Parts that viewers choose to skip help TiVo staff guess the participants that will get voted off.
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