Tivo as a platform strategy is beginning to take shape, and the company is making moves that will pay-off in the long run.
Take today’s announcement. According to TVPredictions.com, they are adding more content providers to the mix. The experiment with C/Net’s technology videos must be working well for them to sign-on more content partners. Those who could be beaming their videos to TiVo users with broadband enabled boxes (about 10% of the total 4.4 million subscribers) include the NBA, and iVillage. Others whose content will show-up on include broadband content providers such as Heavy.com.
Now if they could add more such video content to the mix - say by buying someone like Akimbo - TiVo can start to show a new kind of value proposition. Of course the real value is in bringing web-based video selections from say You Tube or Google video to the living room would further enhance the value of the DVR maker. “There’s this exploding video availability on the Web,” TiVo CEO Tom Rogers told USA Today. “But for most people it’s not real until it’s on your TV.” Amen to that!
5 comments so far
2:41 PM PT
Buying Akimbo for their content…funny. Have they expanded beyond German canoeing video or are you taking the long, long, long tail perspective on this one.
2:59 PM PT
Looks like Akimbo’s got way more than the long tail. Dr. Who, Major League Baseball, Anime, Discovery Kids…
(link)
3:25 PM PT
Hasn’t TiVo been in talks with Brightcove? I seem to remember some deal in the making, that would allow “premium” Brightcove publishers to push directly to TiVos. This would be huge, if only for the eventual possibility of all Brightcove publishers (and, hence, any video producer willing to work with them) from using TiVo as a distribution method.
4:14 PM PT
TiVo still has the chance to something interesting. There is plenty of opportunity in the link between what you can watch on your TiVo TV and what is online. So far though it appears very hard for TiVo to find the mass or partners to really pull it off.
8:22 PM PT
The problem that TiVo still has is they are making the process a relatively closed activity. You have to either negotiate directly with TiVo or have the wherewithall to contract with Brightcove to create a channel. TiVo has to open the process up (or we’re going to do it for them:)
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