Tivo and Netflix

[electron]

Many news agencies have been reporting that there is a deal in the works between Tivo and Netflix. The deal would allow Tivo owners to download the DVD rentals from their Netflix account, linking the 2 together. A subscription to both the Tivo and Netflix service would be required of course, but I am sure you can imagine the potential here.

Downloading content from the internet is something Tivo tried to stay away from as their former partner DirecTV did not want to enter that market. Now that the relationship is 'bust' (DirecTV sold their shares in the company in order to reduce DirecTV's debt) and other deals aren't going as planned (Tivo has been trying to partner with the cable companies for so long now), Tivo is no longer waiting and is moving on trying to become successful again (eventho they have an increasing # of subscribers, Tivo has been having some financial issues).

Considering broadband speeds are increasing, more family's are buying Media Center PC's/PVR's, this is something that was bound to happen. Cable companies are trying to compete with their On Demand services, but they probably will never be able to be as successful. DirecTV made a bad move here by distancing themself from Tivo, and I am sure the Cable companies regret not partnering with Tivo now.

http://news.google.com/news?q=tivo+netflix

 

[Squintz]

So how would this actually work. You would have to have a tivo system that is connected to broadband? What will the quality be like? I wonder if they would offer a discount for being a subscriber to both? I wonder if the movies would be streamed so you can watch them instantly or would you have to dl them for 2 hours and then watch.

Why Tivo?

Why doesnt netflix just put the movies for DL on the internet. I can think of a few reasons why they dont but that would be much ceaper to the end user i would think.

 

[DavidL]

squintz,
The founder of Netflix actually asked the www.avsforum.com HTPC thread on how that group saw distribution of HD content. There is a large thread of responses ranging from Internet (bandwidth issues), to mailing hard drives (hardware failure issues), to multiple DVDs, etc.

Interesting he asked. Only problem with that is he will be the one making the money with the idea...:unsure:

 

[Rupp]

~$35 a month for movies? I can go see them cheaper than this. :unsure:

Lets also see what the distribution companies have to say about this.

This sound a lot like the start up of Kazza or Napster does it not?

 

[electron]

Not really, this would all be legal, and I am sure there would be a lot of DRM going on so you can't just copy it to another machine. The only issues I can see here is that not every movie studio is going to like this, and some of the major releases could be blocked from this (or delayed for a while).