In a deal first flagged by NBR, Hybrid TV, the Australasian licensee for TiVo (one-third owned by TVNZ, one third by Seven Media) has announced a deal with Disney Media Distribution that will provide hundreds of hours of extra pay-per-view downloads for t
In a deal first flagged by NBR, Hybrid TV, the Australasian licensee for TiVo (one-third owned by TVNZ, one third by Seven Media) has announced a deal with Disney Media Distribution that will provide hundreds of hours of extra pay-per-view downloads for the struggling company.
TiVo has two components: a broadcast TV feed via Freeview HD, and "Caspa", a broadband-based service that offers movies and TV programmes on-demand, on a pay-per-view basis.
The deal boosts TiVo's library of on-demand TV shows from around 160 to over 200, including Disney hits such as Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives Ugly Betty and Brothers & Sisters.
Episodes are typically offered for download at $4.95 each.
TiVo's line-up of new-releasse and back-catalogue movies, previously dominated by Sony Pictures and its affiliates (and around 360 titles strong), also gets fleshed out under the deal, with new Disney releases like The Proposal, Up!, G-Force and Morning Light, plus classics such as 101 Dalmatians, Cinderella Man, Flubber, 10 Things I Hate About You and Chicago.
Set-top box rival Apple TV has already added Disney titles to its iTunes download line-up, and began featuring 10 Things I Hate About You and other Disney flicks in its featured films last month.
But despite their gradual expansion, both TiVo and Apple TV still look anaemic compared to even the most bare-bones video store.
An Apple rep told NBR that his company will add on-demand movies and programming as fast as studios make them available (currently, not very fast at all). Ideally Apple TV would have a near-limitless on-demand line-up, as iTunes Music Store has already.
By contrast, TiVo's local licensees have to calculate any potential damage to their broadcast TV viewership.
Slow start
Neither Hybrid TV nor TVNZ will comment on TV sales, although exclusive retail partner Telecom told analysts the service had a slow Christmas, missing target.
A Hybrid rep did tell NBR that there have been around 18,000 films or TV episodes downloaded via TiVo's Caspa service so far. Extrapolating, that indicates perhaps 1500 to 2000 TiVo customers.
