Tivo coming to Australia

[tasty carp]

This news story popped up today

not really interested in a tivo box but the interesting thing about the article is how supportive of an EPG the TV networks in Australia are..what changed over night?


http://www.theage.com.au/news/home-t...205307765.html


Skip the ads, TiVo's coming to Australia
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May 30, 2007 - 12:58PM

TiVo, the time-shifting digital video recorder that became a household name in the US, will come to Australia in 2008.

For a small subscription fee plus the price of the hardware, Australians will be able to pause live high definition TV, fast-forward ads, record shows and series from any of the free-to-air digital TV channels, and access broadband content such as video-on-demand.

The company today announced a partnership with the Seven Network, which will build the digital platform behind the service.

Seven CEO David Leckie said the move would "vastly extend" the overall viewing experience of television viewing.

Through the TiVo, Seven - and possibly other networks - would offer new marketing products such as click-through ads.

For instance a viewer watching an ad for a movie could click through to a full trailer, and even check screening times and book a ticket. They could then go back to the TV show they were watching, without missing a moment.

However Seven and TiVo were cagey about some of the details of the product, which will be released "in the first half of 2008".

The TiVo requires a full electronic programming guide (EPG) to work properly. However the Nine Network is very protective of its program guide, recently suing IceTV, the provider of another EPG claiming it had breached copyright by reproducing the channel's program line-up.

Bridget Godwin, head of policy and regulatory at the Seven Network, said the free-to-air TV industry supported the idea of an industry-wide EPG, and she was confident that one was "on the way".

A spokeswoman for Nine said: "We support the concept of an industry-wide EPG and we look forward to working with other participants in the industry to develop this further."

Seven and TiVo would also not be drawn on the pricing of the product, a spokesman saying only that it would be a monthly subscription fee "at a very low price point that's incredibly compelling".

It would be distributed by telecommunications providers such as voice-over-IP telephony company Engin which is a partner in the project, and other broadband internet and voice providers.

Foxtel offers a very similar service to TiVo - Foxtel iQ - that from $10 a month allows users to pause and rewind live television, as well as access an array of on-demand shows.

Recordings through Foxtel iQ can also be scheduled remotely over the internet.

In response to today's announcement, Foxtel said it "welcomes Seven to the 21st Century, finally dipping their toe into the water of digital television".

Seven denied that it was cannibalising its own revenue by supporting a product that allowed people to skip ads.

Josh Danovitz, head of international for Tivo, said TiVo users watched 20 to 25 per cent more television and better remembered ads.

They watched more than half of their television live or close to live, especially news, sport and reality programs.

However he admitted that a significant number of people skipped ads while watching TiVo-recorded TV, though he disputed a figure of 70-80 pr cent saying it was "probably less than fifty per cent".