TiVo chatting up Yahoo!, Google

« TiVo gag on the Simpsons | Main | The Onion: TiVo Wishlist Roulette »

TiVo chatting up Yahoo!, Google

CNET is reporting that TiVo is courting the top two search engines, Google and Yahoo!. One possible use would be allowing people to schedule recordings for shows they find in the search engines.

Then there's the fact that both Yahoo! and Google offer video services now, which fit in with TiVo's Video Publisher. This would give TiVo access to a whole lotta Long Tail video. This would be especially powerful if TiVo opened up scheduling via web services. As this weekend's Ajax hacks showed, there's a lot of people who want their TiVo to do more. Speaking of the Long Tail—and who isn't using that buzzword these days?—the Long Tail blog shows how this could be done.

For the benefit of the deathwatch crowd, there's also talk of investment or even a buyout:

A second person familiar with the talks said TiVo has held talks with both Google and Yahoo about a potential equity investment, including the possibility of an outright acquisition. Any deal would likely be exclusive, this source said, Nothing has been finalized, however, and the talks could yet fall apart.

"A deal to cooperate could happen quickly, but then the details would have to be worked out," the first source said. "The search companies need to work with companies like TiVo because they have access to the living room, and they own a television interface."

by George Hotelling April 18, 2005 in News, TiVo

Comments

Wow, no comments on this yet!! I want video on my TV!! I think it's called TivoToComeback, where you can send video from your computer or the internet to your Tivo. Tivo has admitted to developing this.

I wonder what the major issues are. Encoding, ease of use. ect.

I waititng for true internet meets Tivo.

Posted by: Muted response at Apr 18, 2005 11:49:14 AM

"I want video on my TV!!"

Wow, can they, like, even do that yet?

What an age of wonders we live in - video on our TVs! What will they think of next? Maybe audio on our TVs?

Posted by: Can they even do that? at Apr 18, 2005 6:03:33 PM

All the mac-heads are too bitter to admit what great news this is for itty-bitty Tivo.

"Making all the wrong decisions"
"Ignoring their customer needs"
"Deathwatch"

...and now being courted by two of the largest tech companies in the world.

Nice job Tivo.

Posted by: Tyson at Apr 18, 2005 6:16:13 PM

Google and Tivo?

WoW, Talk about a Dream Come True!!!

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Posted by: Brandon at Apr 19, 2005 12:00:07 AM

Go Tivoogle!!!

Posted by: Sally Canning at Apr 19, 2005 12:01:39 AM

There is great potential to this partnership (if it indeed comes to fruition). But if the relationship is indeed exclusive, it sounds like it will lock TiVo into receiving Internet video content from Google only. I'm not sure that's a good idea.

Posted by: Alex Rowland at Apr 19, 2005 12:14:17 AM

These talks could be very strategic, as a major step toward creating a new service category and cementing TiVo's place in the media world. This is described in my blog entry, A New "Blue Ocean Strategy" for TiVo, and related posts (www.teleshuttle.com/UCM/ucm.htm).

Tivo as a DVR box is little more than a commodity, but TiVo as "TV your way" and as "an easy way to find and control content from any broadcast or broadband source" is an important new "media concierge" service.

The power is in getting out of the box, and in serving the user as a media broker -- not being overly wedded to any content source or any media gateway/DVR box. (Google may be more tuned to being content source agnostic, and not pushing its own content, but Yahoo could do that as well.) A TiVo concierge service could favor Tivo boxes and its portal's own content, but fails the user if it does not also address all content and all boxes.

TiVo wins as a service, not a box.

Posted by: Richard Reisman at Apr 22, 2005 10:00:38 AM

im arick from italy im 22 old im studyng in the unversity

Posted by: sarickdj at May 3, 2005 11:19:00 AM

hi! dude i am here

Posted by: nikki at May 10, 2005 3:10:53 AM

who likes video games

Posted by: z3ro101 at May 23, 2005 10:57:24 AM

HELLO MY NAME IS LIA I JUST WANT TO MAKE A NEW FRIENDS! OK

Posted by: lia at Jun 26, 2005 12:23:55 AM

TivotoComeBack is in the works as we speak. IT is being Beta Tested and almost done. 7.2 Should be out soon. How do I know this? Cause I am one of the Beta Testers. Everything is running incredibly fast. There are a lot of new features. instant access games. etc etc.

Posted by: The Tivo Guy at Aug 10, 2005 1:27:49 AM

i love you guys a lots! love,kayla

Posted by: kayla at Aug 13, 2005 9:42:46 PM

I wish they could play better with directv. Todd N. Lokken

Posted by: Todd N. Lokken at Sep 12, 2005 7:39:40 AM

Thanx for coming my home are you okay bye for i have to finish my work.
BYE

Posted by: Sunera at Sep 19, 2005 7:41:46 AM

I love you

Posted by: Taranga at Oct 4, 2005 4:26:33 AM

pls give me info abt all of this mate..!
coz i'm new user here, so I only know a little about this . maybe about how to regist, etc. pls confirm me asp..

Posted by: eva maria f. at Apr 8, 2006 4:48:23 AM

Posted by: Pawan at Aug 3, 2006 4:56:13 AM

TiVo chatting up Yahoo!, Google

Comments

Post a Comment

On this site

Recent Comments

Advertising