At TelcoTV, I heard a lot of talk about adding web video content to telcos' IPTV solutions, but it looks like TiVo is already doing just that: TiVo customers can buy software for $25 that will enable them to convert video from the Internet into formats that TiVo recognizes. The company is also building out its TiVoCast service, which bundles Internet TV channels together. In a YouTube-like move, TiVo is also offering a $4 a month service that will allow its customers to upload their own videos to share with friends and family who also have networked TiVos. So $4 a month so that I can see home videos from my family? YouTube can do that for free--I don't think that the price warrants the service, especially given the need for all parties to have an networked TiVo.
For more on TiVo's new services:
- take a look at the WSJ article (sub. req.)
ALSO: A recent study from the Leichtman Group found that fewer than 4 percent of all TV viewing in the U.S. is of recorded DVR programs, even though VOD is present in 25 million digital cable homes, and 60 percent of digital cable subscribers have used it. The number of U.S. households with DVRs has jumped from 3 percent two years ago, to 12 percent today. Overview (.pdf)