The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports that all TiVo subscribers will be able to access web videos free of charge through their TV from content providers such as the National Basketball Association, New York Times Co., the female-oriented Web firm iVillage Inc., etc. “For an awful lot of viewers, video doesn’t become real TV until you can watch it on the television,” TiVo Chief Executive Tom Rogers said.
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof will have videos on parenting tips available within the next few weeks and other content is sure to follow, mostly through a deal with Brightcove Inc., a company specializing in distributing videos online. TiVo has had continuous pressure from other competitive digital video recorder (DVR) devices. In fact, cable and satellite companies often offer their own DVR technology as part of sign up packages. Thus, TiVo is ready to make itself stand out feature-wise more than the competition.
