« Free TiVo (after rebates) | Main | TiVo's Home Media Engine launched »

NY Times - Steal This Show

The New York Times does a wide-ranging article on PVR technologies including profiles on the technologies and people behind  BitTorrent, Videora, MythTV, and KnoppMyth. 

First popularized by TiVo and ReplayTV about five years ago, the DVR gave consumers a new degree of control: instead of being at the mercy of the broadcast schedule or VCR's, they could now be their own television programmers, scheduling shows at their convenience, pausing live television and skipping easily past commercials. Smith Barney estimates that though only a little more than 6 million Americans now use DVR's, by 2010 nearly half of American television households, or 58 million homes, will have them.

The article also touches upon the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Television Liberation Digital Front which is working towards defeating the FCC's broadcast flag, which will restrict ways in which media content can be used.

The article closes with some quotes from television company executives, who are planning for a pay-per-view future, think that people will pay $1 per TV show (without commercials) and $.50 per TV show (with commercials.)  What do you think about the future of TV viewing and pay-per-view?  Would you pay per show?

The New York Times> Steal This Show

Thanks to the New York Times Link Generator for a weblog-safe link.

by Gen Kanai January 30, 2005 in News

Comments