TiVo to put CNET back on the air

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TiVo to put CNET back on the air

Remember the 90's? No, not another nostalgia show from VH-1; think back to when stock prices could only go up, it made sense to buy a 100 pound bag of pet food online and CNET was on the TV. At least one of those is coming back: the company that put Ryan Seacrest on TV is trying to get back to its roots in the form of TiVo downloadable video.

PVR Wire is reporting that TiVo and CNET have partnered to provide short product review segments for the next 6 weeks. In order to get it, you have to opt-in to get the download from the TiVo main menu and only TiVo Series 2 owners with broadband need apply. (via)

More than just the CNET deal though, this means that TiVo is using its Internet content distribution network. While the Netflix deal didn't go through, the idea of getting video independent of the broadcast networks is still sound. I wouldn't be surprised if we see something from Yahoo! on this front too, since TiVo and Y! just announced a partnership, and Y! News is now producing a video news program.

update: Dave Zatz got some good screenshots of the cnet downloads in action.

by George Hotelling November 14, 2005 in News, TiVo

Comments

Only series2? Darn! I have a turbonet in my series1 and am very capable of downloading this stuff.

Posted by: Ernie Oporto at Nov 14, 2005 1:35:54 PM

The TiVo-NetFlix deal is still alive, just on hold until the studios are more willing to give NetFlix the licenses to distribute.

In the meantime, deals like this can help prove the technology and maybe convince the studios.

Since TiVo also has a deal with AOL, it would be nice if those free show downloads were available on TiVo and not just a PC. :-)

Posted by: MegaZone at Nov 14, 2005 7:39:16 PM

I've opted in on my TiVo for this. Nothing is available just yet it seems.

Posted by: schalliol at Nov 14, 2005 8:37:15 PM

I opted in, too, mostly because I miss the old C-NET stuff. What I don't get, though, is why this content couldn't more easily be available through the regular Showcases feature? So far, I'm not so impressed with the downloadable feature...

Posted by: Mickymse at Nov 16, 2005 1:02:24 PM

Well, my TiVo finally downloaded it this evening. It showed up in "Now Playing" with a blue dot next to it while it was downloading, and then was put in its own "CNET.com's tech tips and r..." folder when it was done. Didn't seem to interfere with any normal TiVo operations.

Having now watched it (and having formerly watched CNet TV), I gotta say it was one of the lamest, most boring things I've ever seen. I couldn't even watch the entire 12 minutes in one sitting, it was so tedious, stilted, and devoid of actual substance. Very poorly produced, and inexplicably targeted as newbies (even though TiVo users are disproportionately tech-savvy).

Oh, and on top of that, hit the Info button on it and you'll find...

"Restrictions: Due to the policy set by the copyright holder, this recording: Cannot be transferred to VCR, DVD or any other media device. To learn more, visit www.tivo.com/copyprotection."

Excuse me???

Amusingly, however, the "Save to VCR" function still works (I tried it just out of spite), and of course even if it didn't there's no way to prevent anyone from manually dubbing it onto one's VCR.

Bizarre on so many levels...

Posted by: Robogeek at Nov 19, 2005 12:46:12 AM

Pretty funny to see items from the 90s referred to as 'nostalgia'. But, in the fast-paced high tech world, anything more than 10 years old really falls into that category.

Posted by: Todd Lokken at Feb 21, 2006 10:01:00 AM

TiVo to put CNET back on the air

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