Yahoo Inc. and TiVo Inc. are teaming up to blend some of their services, a move that further fades the lines between offices and living rooms, TVs and PCs. Under a partnership announced lately, the two will collaborate to offer Yahoo’s Internet-based content and services through TiVo’s digital video recording devices.
People can browse television schedules at Yahoo’s website then click on an icon that signals their TiVo recorders to digitally capture desired programs for later viewing, representatives of both companies announced.
In the months to come, added features will include being able to use TiVo television to view personal pictures stored at the website and see local traffic and weather information from Yahoo, company officials said.
The deal announced, appeared to address TiVo’s desire to distinguish itself from competing digital recording services offered by cable and satellite television companies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Edward Lichty, TiVo’s vice president of corporate strategy, said TiVo hopes the collaboration will set the foundation for a long-term relationship.
TiVo subscribers already have the ability to remotely schedule recordings from the TiVo Web site, but this will give the DVR pioneer a way to potentially tap Yahoo’s large user base and gain some much-needed new customers.
Meanwhile, Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo, the leading destination on the Web, is seeing tremendous growth as more people turn to the Internet for news, entertainment, communication, and other services.
The Alviso, California-based company has about 3.6 million subscribers but it accrued fewer new customers in its last fiscal second quarter than it did the previous year, according to the company’s financial report released in August. And though the company posted its first profit in its eight-year history during that quarter, some analysts question whether the company can continue to grow as satellite and cable companies develop their own DVR technology that offer lower subscription fees.
But the Internet giant is also under constant pressure from rivals Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to expand its own offerings.
For both companies, TiVo in particular, with the ability to let its subscribers access Yahoo’s content from their televisions marks a significant development in the company’s year-old campaign to expand beyond basic digital video recording services to becoming more of an entertainment hub, Lichty said.
It is not about having a Web browser on your TV and having a keyboard on your lap. It will still be focused on the TV experience and navigating with the remote control, Lichty said.
Bringing Internet access to the TV screen is nothing new. Most previous efforts—notably WebTV—were dismal failures. But Lichty thinks the Yahoo-TiVo offering will be different.
It also follows a trend by Yahoo and other Internet portals to expand their reach beyond computer terminals to mobile telephones and other devices.