TiVo Allows Viewers to Choose Broadband Video Delivered to TV SET
TiVo Makes Watching Web Video on Your TV Easy, Automatically and Seamlessly Converting Broadband Video into a Format that Televisions can Display
NEW YORK and ALVISO, Calif., Nov. 14 / - In keeping with its mission to provide subscribers unprecedented control over their television viewing experience, TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ:TIVO) announced today it will enable TiVo subscribers to easily convert and transfer broadband video from their PC to their television sets. Through an expansion of its Desktop PC software later this year, TiVo subscribers will be able to view videos from the Web on their TVs, even if they are not originally in a format that televisions can display. This is in addition to the broadband programming delivered via TiVo's TiVoCast direct delivery feature. TiVo, the creator of and leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), is the first and only DVR to offer this kind of access to broadband video on the television.
"Broadband video is growing rapidly on the Web, but the television will continue to be the key way viewers want to watch video. It's not TV until it's on TV and now TiVo is the only DVR available today that makes watching Web video on TV easy," said Tom Rogers, President and CEO of TiVo. "This new functionality is another example of how TiVo is changing the face of TV in the home. There is an explosion in video on the Web that is not intended to be rights-protected and now the consumer can decide which of that video he or she would like to view on the TV set."
TiVo subscribers will be able to choose from a variety of free downloadable content such as music videos, video podcasts and user generated content. This new software, TiVo Desktop Plus 2.4, will support video content downloaded to PCs running Windows XP in formats such as QuickTime, Windows Media Video, and MPEG-4.
TiVo subscribers who upgrade to this new software, TiVo Desktop Plus 2.4, will be able to easily browse, transfer, and watch a variety of Web video downloads using the Emmy Award-winning TiVo service. With a TiVo Series2(TM) DVR connected to a PC on a home network, the TiVo Desktop software will automatically convert videos on demand. TiVo Desktop Plus 2.4 will be available to TiVo subscribers for a one-time fee of $24.95, and will be a free upgrade for subscribers who purchased version 2.3.
This announcement is just one of a number of service features that TiVo has made available over the last year that enables subscribers to dramatically enhance their TiVo entertainment experience with a broadband connection. Today, subscribers with a TiVo box connected to their home network can not only access local movie listings and purchase tickets, discover new music, and view shared Yahoo! Photos, but they can also receive content through TiVoCast. The TiVoCast service delivers broadband video directly to the television sets of TiVo subscribers allowing consumers the ability to receive exclusive content from the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), The New York Times, Heavy, iVillage and CNET among others.
About TiVo Inc.
Founded in 1997, TiVo pioneered a brand new category of products with the development of the first commercially available digital video recorder (DVR). Sold through leading consumer electronic retailers, TiVo has developed a brand which resonates boldly with consumers as providing a superior television experience. Through agreements with leading satellite and cable providers, TiVo also integrates its full set of DVR service features into the set-top boxes of mass distributors. TiVo's DVR functionality and ease of use, with such features as Season Pass(TM) recordings and WishList® searches, have elevated its popularity among consumers and have created a whole new way for viewers to watch television. With a continued investment in its patented technologies, TiVo is revolutionizing the way consumers watch and access home entertainment. Rapidly becoming the focal point of the digital living room, TiVo's DVR is at the center of experiencing new forms of content on the TV, such as broadband delivered video, music and photos. With innovative features, such as TiVoToGo(TM) and online scheduling, TiVo is expanding the notion of consumers experiencing "TiVo, TV your way.®" The TiVo® service is also at the forefront of providing innovative marketing solutions for the television industry, including a unique platform for advertisers and audience measurement research. The company is based in Alviso, Calif.
First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: thammill@rogersandcowan.com
Source: TiVo Inc.
CONTACT:
Krista Wierzbicki of TiVo,
+1-408-519-9438,
or kwierzbicki@tivo.com;
Jeffrey Weir,
+1-212-446-1878,
jweir@sloanepr.com, for TiVo
Web site: http://www.tivo.com/
