With TiVo announcing that they plan on ushering in a new era of broadband based television, I was left with more questions then answers when it came to how this impacted their long term strategy as a business. In a series of press releases that addressed everything from celebrity recommendations to additions to their TiVoCast service, I found myself almost dizzy trying to understand the broader implications of their recent broadband announcements.
While many details, involving the program were only announced today, late last week, Evan Young, the Director of broadband services for TiVo, gave a keynote address at the Streaming Media West 2006 conference where he offered a significant amount of insight into what TiVo’s future may hold, when it comes to broadband television. During his presentation, Young gave a startlingly honest assessment of the challenges that TiVo faces, as well as the opportunities that lie ahead.
After viewing his presentation, if there was one impression I was left with, it was the importance that broadband distribution will play to TiVo’s future. In the past there have been a lot of gate keepers that have prevented independent producers from bringing their content to television viewers and whether it was the cable companies, the Hollywood studios or the film distribution networks, the web now threatens to end the monopoly that they’ve held on television. While the internet has served as a great democratizer for publishers, it still can’t match the large scale distribution power of television and with their broadband strategy in hand, TiVo hopes to make a direct assault on the 22 minute half hour and 44 minute hour that that big media providers have built their businesses around.