TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO) has its first pure IPTV play. Swedish IPTV provider Com Hem has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with the U.S.-based DVR company under which Com Hem's 1.74 million connected households will have access to traditional TV content, VoD, OTT and applications via traditional TV viewing methods.
Additionally, Com Hem will use TiVo technology to take that material "beyond the traditional set-top through TiVo's tablet, smartphone and browser-based experiences."
Just based on numbers, the deal means that nearly half of all Swedish viewers will soon have intimate knowledge of TiVo's capabilities since Com Hem, which has been pushing its broadband triple-play and data speeds up to 200 Mbps, owns about 40 percent of the Swedish pay-TV market.
"TiVo will be a significant part of our future plans which will redefine our subscriber proposition with features like TV Everywhere, remote recording, universal search, smart recommendations and access to a wide range of third party interactive applications," Com Hem CEO Tomas Franzen said in a statement.
TiVo was selected as the "most compelling answer" to the company's desire to provide a full suite of linear television services, VoD and broadband content (including OTT), said Franzen, noting that the company "reviewed a number of alternatives."
TiVo CEO Tom Rogers hailed the agreement.
"Com Hem's market leading broadband services are the perfect match for TiVo, which prides itself on delivering the ultimate combination of traditional and next-generation television," Rogers said in the news release.
For TiVo, Rogers added, the deal is "a significant step forward … as it will be the first time TiVo offers its service in conjunction with an IPTV network, highlighting our ability to offer the TiVo experience through virtually any type of video delivery and on any type of device."
For more:
- see the release
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