just in, tivo is coming

Seven boosts digital platform with Tivo agreement

The Seven Network is to get a substantial boost to its digital terrestrial broadcasting platform, after signing an exclusive agreement with Tivo Inc, to launch the Tivo digital video recorder to Australia’s 7 million TV households in 2008.

Seven will be the first free to air broadcaster in the market to deploy such a service.

Announcing the new partnership this morning Seven said it will develop the digital terrestrial platform on which the Tivo DVR and service will operate. Tivo will offer its full suite of services including features like SeasonPass recordings and WishList searches, allow users to access broadband content through their TV sets and provide Seven with its interactive advertising capability.

Seven said it will open the platform to other broadcasters and broadband content providers, with a number of “major media organizations having ‘expressed interest”. Tivo CEO and President, Tom Rogers said: “The Australian television market is on the cusp of a significant migration to digital television that will greatly expand the choices available on free-to-air television”.

“We are excited to play a key role in driving this transition by partnering with the top television network in the country to establish Seven's leadership of this transformation,’ he said.

“This relationship demonstrates our ability to deploy the TiVo service on the digital terrestrial, or DVB-T standard, which has now been globally adopted and will represent more than 100 million homes by 2009. It demonstrates the opportunities TiVo has to work with leading broadcasters who have substantial marketing clout to drive TiVo DVR penetration by adopting our hardware and software approaches to this globally important standard," Rogers added.

Seven Media CEO David Leckie said the new partnership will “vastly extend” Australians’ overall TV viewing experience.

"Through TiVo, Seven will leverage our broadcast television and publishing businesses, deliver new advertising and marketing solutions, and expand our presence in new communications platforms, as we work in partnership with (Internet subsidiaries) Yahoo!7 and Engin. As a broadcaster, we are uniquely positioned to promote DVRs while simultaneously defining the future of television advertising," Leckie said.

Seven’s VOIP partnership, Engin, will play a pivotal role in distribution and support of TiVo in Australia and Seven and Engin are finalizing distribution arrangements with other partners . Further announcements of these arrangements are expected in the coming weeks.

Pay TV provider Foxtel is the only broadcaster in the country currently providing a Tivo style of service.

Its IQ-branded personal video recorder is in around 10% or 130,000 of Foxtel homes while pay TV compatriot Austar will launch its version of the Fxotel IQ later this year.

Industry group Digital Broadcasting Australia estimated this month that around 2.5 million TV households in Australia are digital TV capable through the purchase of digital set top boxes or integrated flat screen TV’s. Penetration of off-the-shelf DVR’s is believed to be far lower.