TiVo and Yahoo

Oh, what a tangled web we weave…

Competition for TiVo is getting fierce. With pressure from cable and satellite companies providing their own personal video recorder functionality has caused TiVo some financial problems. Losing DirecTV nearly drove TiVo to bankruptcy and the prospect for a premium PVR service might be grim. But TiVo has been committed to finding unique ways to enhance their set-top box’s appeal to users and maybe bring new customers in.

In November 2005, TiVo announced a collaboration with Yahoo to present the World Wide Web through their Digital Video Recorder, Yahoo style. One of the unique features through the Yahoo/TiVo service will be the ability to program your digital video recorder through the web using your Yahoo online account. Just log in to Yahoo and through their television programming pages you can set up your TiVo shows to record your favorite programming.

Adding a dimension of flexibility to the PVR device is just the beginning. Yahoo services through your TiVo set top box are going to be expanded in coming months to include other Yahoo services. Photo viewer, traffic and weather information from Yahoo are just a beginning. Yahoo TV shall offer information like show times, programming descriptions and inside info on the programming you’ll watch through TiVo, including cast photographs, bios and other exclusive content from Yahoo. Once Yahoo/TiVo are opened up, it’ll also include the new TiVo ToGo features and give users Yahoo pod-casting and PSP-casting. Access to Yahoo’s many online services, including internet radio and services like Movies Central, will allow users to preview upcoming movies at the theater.

HME (Home Media Engine) is the code name for TiVo’s new open platform applications that exclusively use TiVo’s new broadband-enabled series2 set-top boxes. The complete battery of Home Media Engine applications gives Yahoo a presence into the living room that could give them a leg up on their own competition. Using TiVo as a client and providing content through a set-top box gives Yahoo the benefit of living-room’s across America, a place that has thus far eluded them. In the future this could become Yahoo’s version of the Xbox 360 and one-button e-commerce by remote control.

Speculation has been made that the deal could lay the groundwork for a takeover bid from Yahoo. Nothing has been announced but speculation across the web is that the troubled video recorder service might be willing to sell if the right deal is struck. This could give Yahoo a foot into a whole new dimension of set-top box content and possibly a new form of remote controlled couch-top e-commerce through Yahoo shopping.