PVR Wire

TiVo CEO Tom Rogers delivered an address at the Citigroup 17th Annual Entertainment, Media & Telecommunications Conference in Las Vegas this week.

Here's some of the highlights:

:00 Tom Rogers tries to crack a joke
1:00 Clips of TiVo showing up as a pop culture reference in various TV shows
5:20 Three trends:

1. PVR use is growing, with as many as 60 million units expected in homes by 2010
2. Users fast forward through ads
3. Users want access to broadband content

9:00 Fifty percent of TiVo's new subscribers are analog cable customers
10:50 In addition to Comcast and Cox, TiVo is in discussions with other cable companies to bring a TiVo interface to non-TiVo branded set top oxes
13:30 Rogers claims "every major cable company CEO" has stopped by the TiVo booth at CES
15:40 TiVo is the only PVR that has an interactive advertising solution, making the company that was once a pariah among advertisers into a company that advertisers are willing to do business with
19:20 More than 50% percent of new subscribers are hooking their TiVo units up to a broadband connection
23:00 That Echostar litigation? That's just one patent, TiVo's got 80 more
24:37 Rogers will not talk about Quarter 4 financial news, meaning there's no information on how Series3 boxes are selling
29:30 Rogers summarizes recent announcements that TiVo is demonstrating its software on Comcast boxes, and has partnered with Rhapsody and Music Choice to deliver music content.

Perhaps my favorite nugget from the event was this:

Rogers says he was keen to move away from lifetime subscriptions, because they were undermining the company's attempts to gain new subscriber revenue. He says the company has pretty much been able to make up the money it used to get up front from lifetime subscription fees with its 3 year service plans.

"You get some of your most enthusiast customers, who would be more than willing to pay more money to TiVo, but they no longer have to. And what we've basically done is for the cost of lifetime, substituted that with a three year deal."

In other words, they've moved from a model of rewarding their most enthusiastic customers to a model where they milk them for all they've got. Nice. I mean, he's right, hard core TiVo fans will keep paying, but does have have to say it out loud like that?

• You can download the podcast directly here.
• Or you can subscribe to the rss feed here.
• Or if you can subscribe via iTunes here.
• Or you can listen over the phone via Podlinez by calling (650) 644-1949.

On this special CES edition of the PVR Wire Podcast we take a look at some of the highlights of CES, from the Xbox 360 new IPTV functions to TiVoToGo for Mac and the TiVo partnership with Comcast.

We'll hear from Dave Zatz, of Zatz Not Funny. He's also Netgear's CES Blogger in residence.

• You can download the podcast directly here.
• Or you can subscribe to the rss feed here.
• Or if you can subscribe via iTunes here.

This week, we speak with Mike Machado, CEO of SageTV.

SageTV has two major announcements this week. First, the company has released version 6.0 of its software, which, among other things, adds an interface for browsing and viewing Google Videos on your TV screen.

SageTV has also released a version of its Placeshifting software for Mac, allowing Mac users to set up SageTV on a PC or Linux machine and access their setting via a Mac.

• You can download the podcast directly here.
• Or you can subscribe to the rss feed here.
• Or if you can subscribe via iTunes here.

This week we speak with Rakesh Agrawal, CEO and Founder of SnapStream Media. BeyondTV releases version 4.5 of its software today, which features a number of bug fixes, and one major new feature -- a plugin that allows for integrated DVD burning.

Existing users can upgrade for free, but the DVD burning plugin is $30, whether you're buying a new copy or upgrading. That's because SnapStream has to pay to license the DVD burning technology. Agrawal says rather than charging all users for a function that some may find unnecessary, BeyondTV went the plugin route.

For more information on how DVD burning is integrated into BeyondTV, and for Agrawal's thoughts about the impact Windows Vista (with Media Center built into several of the consumer-oriented versions) will have on the market for 3rd party solutions like BeyondTV.

• You can download the podcast directly here.
• Or you can subscribe to the rss feed here.
• Or if you can subscribe via iTunes here.

This week we speak with Bill Loewenthal. He's Vice President and General Manager of ReplayTV. The company is one of the pioneers of PVR technology. Last year, ReplayTV announced it would no longer sell set-top boxes, but instead would focus on bringing its personal video recorder software to the PC. After several delays to fix last minute bugs, ReplayTV is set to launch its software next week.

We'll have more on ReplayTV's software once it officially launches, but here's a few details to whet your appetite.

• ReplayTV has focused heavily on its search interface, allowing users to find programs in a variety of ways. For example, you can search by actor, director, or genre. But you can also search by channel. This doesn't sound that impressive, but when you see it in action you wonder why it's not a feature on every PVR.
  
• The software also makes heavy use of the "Surprise Me" feature, letting you select if you would like your unit to record certain programs (like Simpsons reruns), genres (comedy movies), or featuring actors or directors that you like. It's a nice way of helping you find material you may not have known you were looking for.
• There's also custom search features such as the ability to browse through season premieres of finales. Again, this is the sort of feature that would have saved me a lot of time a few weeks ago when I was looking for all the shows I needed schedule recordings for.

This is also one of the most expensive PC-based PVRs, and there are some limitations. For example, there's no support for HDTV or multiple tuners yet, although Loewenthal promises both of those features are coming next year. If you want to know more, tune in to the podcast.

This week we talk to Bruce Leichtman of Leichtman Media Research. For the last five years, he's conducted a study on trends in personal video recorders and video on-demand. The most recent study finds that 4% of all television viewing in the U.S. is time-shifted. That's about twice as much as last year.

• You can download the podcast directly here.
• Or you can subscribe to the rss feed here.
• Or if you can subscribe via iTunes here.

[digg this]

This week Chris Tew and Brad Linder talk about some of the week's PVR news.

• :30 What company's most likely to buy TiVo?
• 6:15 Best PVR accessories
• 6:50 TiVo Series3 prices starting to fall (on sale at least)
• 7:30 Watching Google Video on your phone

What do you think, is TiVo for sale, and if so, who would buy it? Do you think the Series3 will drop in price before the holidays? And do you watch mobile videos on your phone?

• You can download the podcast directly here.
• Or you can subscribe to the rss feed here.
• Or if you can subscribe via iTunes here.

[digg this]

This week we talk to Joe Costello, Co-founder and Chairman of Orb Networks.

• :25 -- Orb's new "mycasting" strategy
• 4:10 -- Orb's version 2.0 interface
• 6:05 -- Yes, the application does take longer to load than version 1
• 7:55 -- Public beta of AOL's Winamp Remote using Orb technology due out soon (full disclosure: AOL is the parent company of this blog)
• 9:20 -- Orb partners with Hauppauge and Nokia
• 12:05 -- Orb software for Linux and Mac in the works
• 13:55 -- New function allows you to bookmark and stream YouTube, Google and other web video clips to your phone
• 16:30 -- Development roadmap for 2.1 and 3.0
• 18:07 -- About 40% of users watch live and recorded TV
• 19:50 -- Unlike Slingbox and Sony's LocationFree TV, Orb is free
• 21:20 -- Orb's plan to raise revenue in the future
• 23:45 -- Privacy issues

Do you use Orb? Have you tried the new 2.0 interface, and what do you think of it? Or do you prefer hardware solutions like the Slingbox? Let us know in the comments section.

• You can download the podcast directly here.
• Or you can subscribe to the rss feed here.
• Or if you can subscribe via iTunes here.

This week we have highlights from the Digital Life expo in New York.

• :45 Digeo CEO Mike Fidler talks about updates to Moxi.
  
• 3:20 One Voice sales rep Adam Fitch talks about the upcoming One Voice remote for Media Center Communicator.
• 6:55 Gyration CEO Tom Quinn talks about motion sensing technology that lets you use a TV remote like a mouse.
• 10:55 blip.tv CEO Mike Huddack talks about his site and the future of online video.

Thanks to Dave Zatz for helping out with the Mike Fidler interview, and don't forget we've got a contest going for a bag of goodies from the convention.

• You can download the podcast directly here.
• Or you can subscribe to the rss feed here.
• Or if you can subscribe via iTunes here.

PVR Wire Podcast #6 is up.

This week, we have an interview with Blake Krikorian, co-founder and CEO of Sling Media. He discusses the features of the three new Slingboxes released this week. We also talk with Dave Zatz, of Zatz Not Funny. He's been beta testing the new Slingbox for the last month, and shares his thoughts.

And as usual, we have a roundup of the week's PVR and digital video news.

• You can download the podcast directly here.
• Or you can subscribe to the rss feed here.
• Or if you can subscribe via iTunes here.

PVR Wire Podcast #5 is up.

This week, JJ Hawkins and I talk about Tivo's and CBS Sportsline's fantasy football system, TiVo, Microsoft's Zune, and much more.

• You can download the podcast directly here.
• Or you can subscribe to the rss feed here.
• Or if you can subscribe via iTunes here.

The PVR Wire Podcast is now a middle-aged feature, taking comfort in its past accomplishments, and looking forward to its golden years

• You can download the podcast directly here.
• Or you can subscribe to the rss feed here.
• Or if you can subscribe via iTunes here.

On this week's show:

• TiVo releases its Series3 unit, 30-second skip hack still works
  
• Apple updates iTunes, the iPod, and announces iTV
• Microsoft announces the Zune
• ReplayTV software due any day now
• PVR Wire's new "Up Close" feature launches
• And much more...

Don't have an hour to listen to Steve Jobs keynote from this week's Showtime event? Check out our latest podcast: 20 minutes of highlights from Jobs' speech, especially designed for a PVR Wire audience, with an emphasis on the iPod video, iTV, and iTunes movie downloads.

• 0.00 Improvements to the iPod video
• 1:12 New iPod software, including improved searching and video games
• 3:56 Updates to the iTunes store
• 5:45 All videos now at a higher resolution
• 8:40 75 movies for sale
• 13:45 Introduction of the iTV

And as always:

• You can download the podcast directly here.
• Or you can subscribe to the rss feed here.
• Or if you can subscribe via iTunes here.

The PVR Wire Podcast is back, and now that we're up to number 2, I think we can fairly call it a weekly feature. This time, the podcast comes in more flavors:

• You can download the podcast directly here.
• Or you can subscribe to the rss feed here.
• Or if you can subscribe via iTunes here.

On this week's show:

• A ton of TiVo news
• Archos's latest PMP has a web browser
• All-in-one PCs keep coming out of the woodwork
• And much more...

Our first podcast is ready to go. Our goal is to bring you a weekly review of news related to PVRs and digital video.

Please let us know what you think of the format and content by dropping us an email or posting in the comments section. Remember, this is our first time, so be gentle.

You can download the podcast directly here.

Or you can subscribe to the rss feed here.