TiVo Launch Gaining Momentum

TiVo is set to launch in NZ and is generating a great deal of interest here. Nearly 11,000 customers have visited the TiVo site to register interest. The set top box here will show free to air television stations and programs that have been downloaded from the internet.

Hybrid holds the TiVo rights here and they say the response is very strong for a product that is still not launched. Private talks ahve happened between Hybrid and TV3 and C4 owner MediaWorks. Mediaworks approval is needed for the inclusion of TV3 and C4 programming in the Electronic Programming Guide of TiVo.

The talks were downplayed by Mediaworks themselves. It wasn’t a priority for them, they said. TVNZ bought a third stake in Hybrid for $8 mn.

With the help of TiVo, viewers in the largest cities in NZ will be able to watch, pause and rewing free to air channels as well as record programs. TiVo viewing in Australia is picking up after a slow beginning.

Installation issues will not hold back sales a representative of TiVo said.

Meanwhile TiVo Central Online has launched “To Do” and “Now Playing” Lists.

TiVo-Nova Offer New Podcast Service

Hybrid TV is launching a new podcast service from Monday. Hybrid is the exclusive licensee of TiVo in Australia and New Zealand. Both breakfast and drive time podcasts will be available from Vega and Nova stations. The deal was made between Hybrid TV and dmg Radio Australia in December of 2008.

All Australian TiVo users will get the new service without a new fee on the TiVo media device they own. As part of the new service, highlights of all seven Nova and Vega regional shows will be provided daily, updated.

The streaming is to be “On Demand” – no need to download. Data usage would be between 1 and 30 mb and would depend on the podcast’s length. If you use Internode or Primus as an ISP, then podcast streaming will happen without any additional data charges.

Says Robbee Minicola, from Hybrid TV, Australians love radio and this is a bridge between the radio and TV experience. It comes home through the TV sound system. With partnerships like this the consumer wins. Happy listening…TiVo gave birth to the radio star…

Unmetered TiVo by iPrimus

iPrimus, the ISP and Hybrid Television Services have entered into a deal to offer unmetered TiVo to customers. Internode had made a similar agreement with Hybrid. Hybrid had approached the ISP and this brought the deal about.

iPrimus speaks of how this began with Hybrid calling them for an open ended agreement. Hybrid wanted to increase their market share after the Internode deal. Since the last six months ABC iView, Lingo and iPrimus download mirror have seen unbridled data usage. TiVo will also join these in June.
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Movies On Demand By TiVo

Video on demand has been tried by the Australian market by many companies, usually without a great degree of success. Hybrid, the official licensee of TiVo for Australia and New Zealand is now the latest in a line of companies to experiment with paid movie downloads.

You need an Australian TiVo PVR to benefit from this service. Hybrid says they have up to 100 titles available for download. The pricing structure is varied but similar to Apple’s iTunes and Bigponds Movies portal. For a new title you will pay $5.95, possibly and for an old movie $3.95.

You can view the movie for 48 hours after the viewing is begun. So far quota free movie downloads have been offered only by internode. The format of movies is usually MPEG-4 and the size is between one and two gigabytes per title.

There are movies with classifications and protected viewing for young viewers. Based on TiVo’s figures there is a fair degree of consumer interest in this offering.