I'm afraid I'll create Skynet…
Posts tagged Cable
Timing right for TiVo/Boxee relationship??
Jun 22nd
DVR service TiVo has been leaking subscribers for 2 and a half years. The addition of DVR to many cable and satellite services as well as the movement of TV to the web has made a TiVo not seem worth the investment. The only thing keeping TiVo alive is the name brand that they build earlier in the decade as well as the miserable user interfaces and services offered by cable and satellite providers.
The timing is right for TiVo to make a change. TiVo boxes put them in the living room under the TV where everyone WANTS to get their content, but they’ve wasted that opportunity and done nothing with it. They connect to some video on demand services and, if you have an Series 3 HD Tivo, can download videos from Netflix.
They have the opportunity to become not only the centerpiece of the home media experience, but also to make it more social. The software they have that records not only the shows you choose but other shows based on what you choose is simply the best DVR software around. The concept of giving shows thumbs up and thumbs down is inherently social, and it can be used for so much more than helping the TiVo recommendation engine.
Enter Boxee. The software, based on the XBMC project, has exploded onto the home theater scene this year, even though it remains in beta (or private alpha for the Windows version). It has been particularly popular because of a hack that allows users to install it onto their Apple TV, bring all of the features right to their television. Boxee is great for watching or listening to the media on your computer and it has expanded lately with an API that allows users to create applications for the device to access web content.
Combining these features with the TiVo recording and recommendation engine, as well as maybe some Facebook Connect capability, would create something really strong. This would take more work on the software, but imagine if they could inlay the live TV shows as you watch them, with a chat room at the bottom, so fans can discuss what’s happening as it goes on.
The combination would take a lot of work. But I would love to see TiVo and Boxee together. I believe they could really transform the way we consume content in our homes.
Cable and Satellite Providers have little to fear — yet
Feb 19th
Silicon Valley Insider posted an interesting article today about just when Comcast and other big cable/satellite providers need to worry about the boom in online video. The article more or less says that some people are ditching their big cable/satellite bills and just getting their entertainment free from places like Hulu and the network websites.
Personally I almost never watch my favorite shows on TV. I find various other ways to watch them on my computer, TV, or iPod. But as the article states (or should I say, SEVERELY understates) cable still has one thing that the mainstream online sites lack: live content.
The most important live content of course is sports. However these are also moving online. ESPN360 offers a LOT of content for those who have access to it (the benefits of being in college, we get it for free on campus). NBA and MLB games can be watched online for a price, while the NCAA tournament is streamed for free.
The news is another thing people mostly want live. Noone really wants to get the news after its…new. I’m not sure if any of the big news outlets stream their content live or not, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Cable and satellite providers shouldn’t freak out yet, but they should definitely be worried. The choice between watching a show when you want to watch it for free (plus the cost of an internet connection) or paying an $80 cable bill to watch it at a specific time is a pretty simple one.
At a time when finances are tight, people only want to pay for the things they really need or love. And if these companies aren’t careful someone will come along and capitalize on that desire at their expense.
