TiVoCast let's viewers see Web video on the big screen

Filed in archive Internet TV on November 16, 2006

also, CBS signs up its Web content on the service

Watching television and watching Web video have been separate activities that on different devices. For many people, it's simply not TV until it's delivered to the television set.


The latest push is by TiVo who unveiled several new features allowing TiVo users to download from the Internet for playback on television sets. They are calling this TiVoCast. TiVo believes it can stay relevant if it keeps a technological edge on competitors. Helping users tap the huge growth in Internet video is one way it hopes to do that.

The Wall Street Journal quoted TiVo executives saying that its users over time won't be able to tell whether video recorded on the device has come from conventional TV or off the Internet. To me, the key phrase is 'over time' which probably means that the video quality is not there presently.

There is also not much to choose from yet. Today, CBS joined in by making its broadband channel Innertube, CBSNews.com and CBS SportsLine available on TiVoCast. This makes CBS the first broadcaster to join in. There are a few others, too, including the NBA.

One smart thing the company did is that the service doesn't cost users anything beyond the $12.95 a month that TiVo already charges to get updated television listings and other features.

TiVo had other announcements, too, but they just did not seem too compelling for me to write about. If you would like to see TiVo CEO Tom Rogers comments on the new features in a CNBC interview, click here.