ReplayTVBlog

Variety is reporting that various TV Networks and Studios are unhappy with TiVo’s recent announcement that they are adding support for downloading shows from your TiVo to the Video iPod and the Sony Playstation Portable (PSP). NBC is actually making some vague legal threats:

“TiVo appears to be acting unilaterally, disregarding established rights of content owners to participate in decisions regarding the distribution and exploitation of their content…”

Sounds to me like NBC is none too happy with TiVo. I would think that ABC would be even more upset than NBC considering their deal with Apple. Since ABC is selling shows through iTunes for use on the Video iPod, this will directly compete with their offering — and it’s free! While the number of people who own a TiVo, Video iPod, and have a home network that will let them use the TiVoToGo software to transfer shows to their iPod is currently relatively small, this might make the purchase of a TiVo more attractive — imagine being able to record any TV show and transfer it to your iPod for free.

While this is a great feature for TiVo owners, I think that we’ll be hearing more from the TV Networks on this one — especially in court.

Technorati Tags: TiVo, PSP, iPod, NBC, ABC, TiVoToGo

Popularity: 2%

Reality TV, remakes of an old favorite, and repeats of a new favorite highlight what’s on my ReplayTV today:

• The Outer Limits - SciFi is showing The Outer Limits all day today. This isn’t the original Outer Limits but remakes of the show from the mid nineties. While these aren’t quite as good as the black and white originals (are any remakes as good as the original?) I still enjoy them — probably because I’m a sucker for any Twilight Zone type of show.
• The Sopranos - HBO is still showing repeats of The Sopranos. This time it’s the fifth season finale, All Due Respect. For some reason, I never get tired of The Sopranos. While I’ve probably seen this episode three times (and I’ll see it many more times on DVD), any time I see the Sopranos on my ReplayTV, I start watching and I’m hooked. All I want to know is When will the new season start?
• The Biggest Loser - This is the season finale where the winner will be revealed and I can’t stop myself from watching. Every time I talk about this show, I just can’t believe that I watch it, no less actually record it. It’s embarassing. I actually know the names of the people on the show. But I guess in a way, this show is actually good for these people — it’s helping them to lose weight and get healthy.
• Law and Order: Special Victims Unit — I’m still a fan of this show, but what’s up with the seperation of Benson and Stabler? It seems like every episode this season has focused on one or the other and we never see them working together anymore. Is there a reason for this? Did they have a falling out? I’ve searched on the Internet and have been unable to find an explanation for this. Everybody has noticed it, but nobody knows why they really aren’t on screen together anymore. SVU definitely works better when Benson and Stabler are actually partners and work together on cases.

Technorati Tags: ReplayTV, The Outer Limits, The Sopranos, The Biggest Loser, Law and Order

Popularity: 11%

TiVo will be announcing today that they will begin beta testing a new version of their TiVoToGo Software that will allow users to transfer recorded shows from their TiVo directly to their Video iPod or Sony PSP (Playstation Portable). TiVo is adding support to their software for the MPEG-4 Video Format which is supported by both the Video iPod and the PSP.

Being able to put recorded shows from your TiVo on your Video iPod or Sony PSP is nothing new, but this will make it much easier and accessible for most people. Currently, if you want to do this, you have to use the TiVoToGo software to transfer the videos to your computer and then you need another program to convert the video files to the MPEG-4 format. After they are converted to MPEG-4 they can be transferred to your Video iPod or PSP. With the new version of the TiVoToGo software, recorded shows transferred to your computer will already be converted to MPEG-4 and can be transferred to your iPod or PSP without any additional programs or work.

The new version of TiVoToGo will be available for beta testing for current subscribers today and will be released to all subscribers sometime in 2006.

Technorati Tags: TiVo, TiVoToGo, iPod, PSP, MPEG-4

Popularity: 10%

Cisco Systems announced today that they have reached an agreement to acquire set top box manufacturer Scientific Atlanta. Cisco paid cash for all the outstanding shares of Scientific Atlanta stock for a total of $6.9 billion! According to Cisco, this will give them the ability to offer an end to end triple play solution in the areas of consumer entertainment, communication, and online services.

Cisco is definitely making a statement with their acquisition of Scientific Atlanta. While in the past they have been well known in the corporate world, they are now going after the home entertainment and communications markets. With the combination of Scientific Atlanta and Linksys, they now can provide solutions for everything from VOIP Telephone Services to Cable TV, DVR, and VOD (Video on Demand). They are trying to own the digital home and with the acquisition of Scientific Atlanta, they’re certainly on their way.

Technorati Tags: Cisco, Scientific Atlanta, Linksys, DVR, VOD, VOIP

Popularity: 11%

According to a report issued at a press conference held by the major TV networks, 90 Percent of all DVR owners fast forward through most of the commercials in any recorded TV shows they watch. This seems like common sense, but if you dig a little deeper it gets more interesting. Of the 90 percent who skip commercials, 58 percent watch the commercials as they fast forward through them and 53 percent actually rewind back and watch the commercials that caught their eye.

There are a couple of lessons for the Networks to learn from this report:

1. Just because DVR users are fast forwarding through the commercials doesn’t mean they aren’t paying attention to them. When I’m fast forwarding through commercials, I know I’m still watching the commercials. While I won’t see every second of every commercial, I do catch visual bits and pieces of all the commercials. And very often, I still get the whole gist of the commercial.
2. Made good commercials and people will watch them. When I’m watching commercials while fast forwarding, if I catch a glimpse of a Capital One commercial with David Spade and his pudgy, screaming sidekick, I’ll rewind back to watch the commercial! Call me crazy, but I find those commercials funny. And if I even happen to catch a glimpse of a chimpanzee in a commercial, I’m hitting the rewind button faster than you can say Curious George — I have a thing for primates.

I do have one question about this report. Who are the 10 percent of people who own a DVR and are not fast forwarding through commercials? I think they must be people like my parents. They have had a DVR now for almost a year and they still can’t grasp the concept of pausing live TV!

I think I’m beginning to understand why there isn’t a DVR in every home …

Technorati Tags: DVR, Capital One, Chimpanzees, TV

Popularity: 11%

TiVo is really moving ahead strong with the broadband delivery of video content. First was the CNet product review videos and now it’s an exclusive preview of the martial arts movie Red Trousers.

While it’s great to see TiVo venturing into new areas such as delivery of video to your DVR via broadband, when will it be something I actually want to watch? The CNet videos are basically commercials and this exclusive preview of Red Trousers is really nothing more than a movie trailer.

Yes, I like the fact that TiVo is still going ahead with this even after the death of the Netflix deal. But if they don’t get some real content soon, this whole technology will die a quick death.

Technorati Tags: TiVo, CNet, Red Trousers, Netflix, DVR

Popularity: 100%

Brandimensions has conducted an Internet Research Study and found that TiVo is failing in two main areas — the inability to record two different channels at the same time and no support for recording High Definition TV (HDTV). They also found that DVR users are becoming more aware of the alternatives to TiVo (which they call generic DVRs) and that the TiVo name is no longer enough to overcome it’s shortcomings compared to generic DVRs.

While this all seems likely, I think a little explanation about this study is needed. This is not your ordinary survey or poll type of study. Brandimensions has developed a technology where they automatically gather information on a subject from forums, blogs, chat rooms and other online sources. They then use their algorithms to refine and analyze this data and produce results that they call a study.

I don’t doubt that these two missing features are major problems for TiVo right now — I have a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD DVR from Comcast specifically because it has two tuners and can record HDTV (believe me, it’s not because I like the interface or anything else on the 8300HD). But I’m not sure I trust an automated Internet study like this — you just can’t believe everything you read online.

Technorati Tags: TiVo, DVR, Comcast, Scientific Atlanta, 8300HD, HDTV

Popularity: 2%

You know those (somewhat annoying) videos that CNET has on their site? Usually they are product reviews, news stories, and other mini video segments that you can watch on their site — commercials included for free, of course. Well now you can get them automatically on your TiVO!

If you choose to accept this mission and sign up, over the next six weeks you will get a 15 minute product review video sent to your TiVo each week.

Does this amount to anything more than me allowing CNet and TiVo to send 15 minute commercials to my TiVo in the disguise of product reviews? If I could go watch them at the CNet site, why do I want them eating up precious hard drive space on my TiVo?

I think I’ll pass on the free commercials.

via: PVRWire

Technorati Tags: TiVo, CNet, Commercials

Popularity: 10%

Hasbro has officialy launched their TV Show download service for their new portable video player, The VuGo. Since the VuGo is aimed at children, so is the library of shows available for download. Initially, it includes TV Shows from Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, including Johnny Bravo and the ever popular Spongebob Squarepants.

Even though Hasbro is marketing the VuGo as an Video iPod for Kids, it looks interesting to me. The unit itself includes a 3″ color backlit screen and 128MB internal memory for storage and it will actually function somewhat as a portable DVR. It can be hooked up to the video and audio outputs of just about any source (such as a cable box) and it can record what is coming into it to be played back on the road. The VuGo also comes with a windows application for transferring video, mp3s, and photos to the VuGo from your computer. All for about $100 — not bad.

Even though the downloads available from Hasbro will be mainly for kids, The VuGo could possibly make for a nice and cheap portable DVR — hook it up to your cable box and press record and you’ve got TV To Go!

Technorati Tags: VuGo, DVR, iPod, Hasbro, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Spongebob Squarepants, Johnny Bravo

Popularity: 14%

With NBC, CBS, and ABC all jumping on the TV on Demand Bandwagon, it was only a matter of time before another network joined in on the fun. Time Warner is preparing to announce that they will be offering many of their old TV Shows for free download via AOL. The announcement could come as soon as November 14th and will come from Time Warner’s library of TV Shows including many old Warner Bros. TV shows but no new ones from the WB Network. The names of the actual shows that will be available for download have not been released yet and we also don’t know if there will be commercials.

It will be interesting to see which shows they actually have for download. Many of the old Warner Bros. shows, such as Maverick and Chico and the Man, have been released on DVD. If they are now going to available for download for free what will this do to the market for these DVDs?

Of course alot of the old TV Shows from Warner Bros. and other studios have never been released on DVD. There is such a small market for so many of these old shows that the studios would lose money releasing them on DVD. Now, they can offer them for download for free at a much lower cost and maybe make a profit off of ads on AOL or commercials in the downloaded videos. I know I would be willing to sit through even the most annoying Old Navy Commercials to be able to download and watch old shows like Time Tunnel, one of my favorite 60s SciFi shows.

Technorati Tags: Time Warner, AOL, TV, Warner Bros, VOD

Popularity: 11%

With this weeks news of both CBS and NBC entering the VOD (Video on Demand) fray, we have to ask the question: Will VOD Kill the DVR?

The Answer: I don’t think so. While it’s great that the major networks like CBS and NBC are starting to offer their prime time shows on VOD, there are still advantages to using a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) instead:

• No per show charge - Currently the VOD offerings from CBS cost 99 cents per show. With my DVR, their is no charge per show. Yes, I have to pay a monthly service fee, but when you average this out over how many shows I record each month, it doesn’t even come close to 99 cents per show.
• TV on My Schedule - CBS and NBC have both put limitations on when you can get these shows and how long you have to watch them. In the case of CBS, the shows won’t be available until Midnight following the broadcast and you only have 24 hours to watch the show from the time you order it — after that it’s gone! With my DVR I can watch it whenever I want And keep it for as long as I want.
• Record any show I want - There are only certain shows available on VOD. On my ReplayTV, I can record any show I want from any channel I want.
• Fast forward through Commercials - With my ReplayTV I can fast forward through commercials for free. While you can fast forward through commercials on VOD (right now — I bet this will change in the future), you have to pay 99 cents to be able to do it.

While VOD may loosen up on some of these restrictions in the future, right now I’m not giving up my DVR — you’ll have to pry my ReplayTV from my dead body!

Technorati Tags: ReplayTV, DVR, VOD

Popularity: 11%

For those of you out there with a TiVo (I’m not one of them — yet) and a Wordpress Blog you can now share what your TiVo is currently doing on your blog with this Wordpress Plugin. It will allow you to put a TiVo Status Button on your blog (presumably in the sidebar) which will query your TiVo approximately every 15 minutes and display an icon showing what your TiVo is doing (if anything). The status image also has a popup tooltip that shows more detail — what show is being recorded, show description, etc.

The TiVoStatus Plugin talks to your TiVo using TiVo Web Project Software, so this also needs to be installed and setup for the plugin to work.

When I first saw this plugin I thought, this is another one of those stupid blog plugins that shows people what I’m watching or listening to — who cares! But maybe there is some use for this plugin. If I want to check the status of my TiVo — make sure it’s up and running and recording what it should be recording — this is a quick and easy way to do it. Of course there are other ways that will give more information, but this is simple.

Now I think I might have to hack together something similar for my ReplayTV …

Technorati Tags: TiVo, ReplayTV, Wordpress

Popularity: 4%

For those of us who can’t live without our DVR, there may now be a solution. Eurotech has released their Rugged DVR. This is a heavy duty DVR that includes built in wireless networking (802.11b AND g), EIGHT VIDEO INPUTS!, MPEG-4 Encoding for Recordings, VGA Out, and USB. All of this comes in an extremely rugged package (hence the name) that is meant to withstand some pretty harsh environments.

While this definitely isn’t meant for the home user — their target market is surveillance cameras in harsh environments — imagine the possibilities. With eight video inputs, you could hook up eight seperate tuners and be able to record eight shows at once! Let’s see, if I could get about 20 of these to go with 20 Digital Cable Boxes, I could record every cable channel I get simultaneously! I would never miss another show — oh to dream!

Technorati Tags: DVR, Eurotech

Popularity: 11%

Snapstream has announced the release and availability of Beyond TV 4. Beyond TV is Snapstream’s DVR Software for PCs and version is a major upgrade over the previous version including one of the most important features in DVRs today, HDTV support.

Beyond TV 4 has many new features including:

• Record Over the Air Digital HDTV Signals
• Record in multiple formats including DivX, MPEG2, and WMV
• New categories for shows with the ability to search by category
• The ability to play and pause FM Radio Stations

Snapstream is also offering Beyond TV in a number of different bundles, so if you don’t currently have a TV Tuner for your computer, you can purchase Beyond TV with a supported TV tuner at a bundle price.

Also, until midnight November 14, every Beyond TV purchase comes with a free Firefly Remote so that you can control your PC from across the room when watching TV!

Technorati Tags: SnapStream, Beyond TV, HDTV, DVR

Popularity: 5%

Now that the new DirecTV R15 DVR is available, there has been an extremely comprehensive review of the R15 posted at the TiVo Community Forums. This is a great review — it’s basically a walkthrough of the entire process of obtaining, setting up, and using a DirecTV R15 DVR with screenshots of all the steps and features.

From the review, there are a few things I liked about the R15 and some I really didn’t like:

Good Things:

• Two tuners
• No phone line needed — uses the satellite for guide and software updates
• On screen Caller ID
• Simple Prioritization - Just a list of all scheduled recordings, move shows higher or lower on the list and if there is a conflict the higher priority show will be recorded

Bad Things:

• Tons of copy protection - or at least the potential for it.
• Change channel warning that changes the channel 5 minutes before a scheduled recording is supposed to start
• No ability to rank shows
• Can’t watch a show that is currently recording when there are 2 manual recordings in process

Overall, the DirecTV R15 appears to be a very competent DVR — certainly better than the offerings from Scientific Atlanta but maybe still a little behind the DirecTV TiVo DVRs.

Technorati Tags: DirecTV, DVR, TiVo

Popularity: 4%

After all the free TiVo deals we’ve seen lately, it appears that TiVo themselves decided that they had to jump on the bandwagon somehow. So, you can now get a 40 Hour TiVo Series 2 DVR for Free direct from TiVo. You can order it online directly from TiVo and when you place the order, there is no charge — no shipping, no tax, Completely Free.

So What’s the Catch? To get the TiVo for free, you have to sign up for a 1 year TiVo service agreement at $16.95 per month. This is $4 more than the normal monthly TiVo service charge of $12.95. That’s $48 over the one year contract which is just about the same price as buying a new TiVo ($49.99). On top of that, if you cancel anytime before the first year is up, you have to pay a cancellation fee of $150.00. And units obtained through this program cannot be combined with other units to get the multi unit discount on the monthly service fee. And there is no indication what happens at the end of the one year contract. Is the DVR yours to keep? Do you have to return it to TiVO if you don’t continue the service? Will the monthly service fee stay at $16.95 after the first year or does it revert to the normal price of $12.95?

I’m not sure this is such a great deal. Unless you’re really short on cash, you are probably better off just buying one outright for $49.99 — or maybe taking a job as a nurse and getting one for free!

Technorati Tags: TiVo, DVR

Popularity: 2%

My fascination with serial killers and people making idiots of themselves on reality based TV shows makes up what’s on My ReplayTV today. These are all shows that are scheduled to record today. Like them or hate them, here they are — Post what’s on your ReplayTV or TiVo in the comments below!

• Criminal Minds - When I first saw this new show, I had to watch it. I have a fascination with serial killers and profiling and this show delivers. I was a little concerned about casting Mandy Patinkin in the main role but he has turned out to be the perfect choice.
• The Apprentice: Martha Stewart - Reality TV shows seem to work best when there is conflict and somebody you can really hate on the show. Martha Stewart’s version of The Apprentice has this in spades with Jim. He’s a complete idiot on the show and I can’t stand him, yet I keep tuning in to watch him. Go figure.
• E-Ring - Sometimes, there is a TV show that I feel like I will like but I just can’t bring myself to watch it. E-Ring is one of those shows. Its got one of my favorite actors (Dennis Hopper) and I keep recording it but it just always ends up getting deleted. Maybe today will be the day, but I doubt it.
• Kolchak: The Night Stalker - All day today on the SciFi Channel they are showing the original Kolchak: The Night Stalker series. For anybody who’s a fan of horror and paranormal shows like The X-Files this is a must watch TV show. Darren McGavin is great as Kolchak and the stories are really well done.

Technorati Tags: ReplayTV, TiVo, Criminal Minds, E-Ring, The Apprentice, The Night Stalker

Popularity: 2%

Hot on the heels of the DirecTV / NBC Deal, Comcast has made a deal with CBS to offer a number of shows from its Prime Time lineup as a Video on Demand (VOD) Service. The shows will cost 99 cents each and will be available the midnight following their broadcast on CBS.

The deal includes the following CBS shows:

• NCIS
• Amazing Race
• CSI
• Survivor

Just like the DirecTV / NBC deal, you will be able to fast forward through commercials! They won’t be skipped automatically, but the fast forward is not disabled. It is definitely starting to look like the Networks have conceded viewers skipping through commercials and they are trying to create a new revenue model based on selling the shows on VOD.

I still don’t see why anybody would buy these shows on VOD. If you have a DVR, just record them! Then you can watch them anytime you want. If you don’t have a DVR, get one! Comcast is charging 99 cents per show and you only get the show for 24 hours. Comcast also offers a DVR for $9.95 a month. If you’re going to by 10 or more of these shows per month, you’ve already paid for the DVR. And with the DVR, you can record any show you want, watch it whenever you want, and pause/rewind/fast forward live TV.

Sometimes things just don’t make sense — but I’m sure people will buy these shows, anyways.

Technorati Tags: DVR, CBS, Comcast, VOD, CSI, NCIS, Amazing Race, Survivor

Popularity: 3%

NBC and DirecTV have announced a deal where DirecTV will offer NBC Prime Time TV Shows to DVR Subscribers On Demand only a few hours after the original airing on NBC. Viewers will be charged 99 cents for each show.

Included in the deal will be the following shows from NBC, USA, and SciFi Networks:

• The Office
• Monk
• Law and Order: Special Victims Unit
• Law and Order: Criminal Intent
• Surface
• Battlestar Galactica

One thing that jumps out at me from this announcement is this quote from NBC Cable President David Zaslav:

Consumers will be able to watch top NBC content on-demand — when they want, without commercials. It’s a huge sea change.

Did he say without commercials? Up to this point, the focus of the major TV Networks has been to stop viewers from fast forwarding or skipping commercials. Maybe this is a new direction from the networks — instead of an advertising based revenue model for TV shows, offer consumers the option to pay to view the show without commercials.

Who is this service for? If I have a DVR, why am I going to pay 99 cents to watch a TV show? Wouldn’t I just schedule the show to record on my DVR and watch it whenever I want? I guess if for some reason my DVR didn’t record Law and Order: Criminal Intent (power went out, I forgot to schedule it, cable went out, etc.) then I might consider buying it from and On Demand service like this. But how often does this happen? I don’t think this is enough for this venture to be a money maker for NBC.

If you have any other ideas about why I would want to use this service, let me know in the comments section below.

Technorati Tags: NBC, DirecTV, DVR

Popularity: 11%

Today is one of those days where NBC rules my ReplayTV. I’m not sure how all of these shows and NBC are doing in the ratings, but for me they are doing something right.

• The Biggest Loser - For some reason, I’m fascinated by this show. Last year I watched it but wasn’t terribly interested, but this year I can’t seem to get enough. I think it’s because most of the contestants are real train wrecks and you never know what they are going to do next. Just like a train wreck — it’s horrible, but I can’t look away.
• My Name is Earl - I don’t think I really like this show yet I keep watching. Maybe it’s because I really like Jason Lee, maybe I like the concept — I’m just not sure. What I do know is each week I keep recording this show and watching it.
• The Office - This is one of the funniest shows on TV. Steve Carell is perfect — now, anytime I see anything with Steve Carell I make a point to watch.
• Law and Order: Special Victims Unit - It may have lost some of its luster (probably because of all the reruns on USA!) but SVU is still a good show. It just doesn’t seem as good this year as it has been in previous years.
• Boston Legal - If it wasn’t for William Shatner, I don’t think I would have started watching this show. The rest of the cast is very good (especially James Spader), but there is something about Shatner that just makes me want to watch.

Technorati Tags: ReplayTV, Boston Legal, The Biggest Loser, My Name is Earl, The Office, Law and Order

Popularity: 11%