Skip navigation
MOST POPULAR RELATED TAGS
  • TOPICS
  • SECTORS
  • COMPANIES
Media Money Video Gallery
CNBC's Julia Boorstin looks at the weekend's box office and Twilight's gigantic "New Moon" opening. She also discusses C...
Microsoft is reportedly talking to News Corp about teaming up on a search plan that would withhold content, including th...
MEDIA MONEY INDEX
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

MEDIA MONEY VIDEO GALLERY

» More

Current DateTime: 08:47:38 24 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 31765984
Expiration DateTime: 11/24/2009 8:48:04 AM
    • Looking Left  23 Nov 2009

        CNBC's Julia Boorstin looks at the weekend's box office and Twilight's gigantic "New Moon" opening. She also discusses California's looming unemployment insurance crisis and a waiting list for pro football in Los Angeles.

    • Microsoft-Murdoch Scheme  23 Nov 2009

        Microsoft is reportedly talking to News Corp about teaming up on a search plan that would withhold content, including the Wall Street Journal, from Google, with Matthew Garrahan, Financial Times correspondent, and CNBC's Julia Boorstin & Bill Griffeth.

    • Inside Paramount Pictures  20 Nov 2009

        Discussing Viacom's Paramount Pictures strategy, with CNBC's Julia Boorstin and Brad Grey, Paramount Pictures.

    • Oprah Show to End in 2011  19 Nov 2009

        CNBC's Julia Boorstin has the details on Oprah Winfrey's decision not to renew her contract with CBS syndication.

    • Kids and Finances  13 Nov 2009

        A look at some of the stories of several inner city teens trying to become the business leaders of tomorrow, with CNBC's Julia Boorstin.

    • Iger Talks Earnings  13 Nov 2009

        Highlights from her interview with Disney's chief Bob Iger, with CNBC's Julia Boorstin.

RSS FEED

» Help

Current DateTime: 08:47:39 24 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 31625651

Media Money

Text Size
Oct.31
10:38 AM ET
Friday, 31 Oct 2008
TiVo, Netflix Digital Distribution Marriage Made In Heaven

Thursday TiVo [TIVO  Loading...      ()   ] and Netflix [NFLX  Loading...      ()   ] announced a partnership that will make it even easier to give consumers the entertainment they want, on demand, from the comfort of their living room couch. I

If you've got a TiVo HD you'll have access TiVo will offer Netflix's "Watch Instantly" streaming movie service through TiVo's HD boxes, directly to your television set.

All TiVo subscribers should have access to the service by the end of the year, and there will be no extra charge for TiVo subscribers who have one of Netflix's unlimited subscription plans, that cost $8.99 and up. This means getting a movie from the internet, and watching it on your television, is going to become a viable alternative to driving to your Blockbuster [BBI  Loading...      ()   ]or walking to a post office. (Who wanted to really watch a movie hunched over a laptop?)

For years people have been talking about a partnership between the two companies, both of whom have recently been making a spate of deals to offer their services through other technologies. TiVo allows its subscribers to use its set-top box to access Amazon.com's [AMZN  Loading...      ()   ] Unbox store, Walt Disney Studios [DIS  Loading...      ()   ] and others, to rent or buy movies. It has a deal with Google's [GOOG  Loading...      ()   ]YouTube to access YouTube videos on your TV. TiVo even made a deal with RealNetworks' Rhapsody to give Tivo subscribers access to the Rhapsody music library through their television.

TiVo's CEO Tom Rogers said on CNBC in an exclusive interview that he thinks that this kind of service makes TiVo an even better value proposition during the economic downturn. He says consumers are thinking about going out less and spending more time at home, and watching movies through your TiVo box seems like a pretty good option.

Netflix has also been expanding its reach, partnering with a number of Blu-ray high-def disc players to stream Netflix videos direct to televisions. In the last year Netflix has rolled out deals to deliver thousands of videos to high def Samsung and LG Electronics Blu-ray players, and to Microsoft's [MSFT  Loading...      ()   ]Xbox Live game console. When Netflix launched it was competing with Blockbuster, and certainly provided a more convenient alternative. But when Blockbuster launched its online service Netflix realized it needed to become even more convenient, not even requiring that you walk to your mailbox.

Netflix has been hit by the economic downturn—sits stock has dropped nearly 40 percent in the past month—the company hurt by reports that it added fewer-than-expected new subscribers in its third quarter. This partnership should give consumers another reason to sign up for an unlimited subscription, and should help in that regard. Netflix keeps growing the catalog of movies available through streaming, just adding another 2,500 films through the Starz cable network.

On a personal note, I've spent several nights surfing around my TiVo, Amazon Unbox, and Apple TV, trying to find a movie to download or stream to my HD TV, so I can avoid getting in the car and driving to Blockbuster. The selection is always pretty disappointing and sure, maybe I should have planned ahead and ordered some movies through Netflix. But this solves all that. I think people, including myself, really want to live in an on-demand world, especially when it comes to home video. If you can find TV shows on Hulu to watch whenever you feel like it, why not get access to a library of DVDs without getting up from the couch.

What will this do to the media companies' home video revenues? It's still just starting off as a tiny little business. I think it would encourage me to pay more to get movies effectively on demand. But others might argue that it would discourage people from buying DVDs at a Best Buy. We'll see. I think any new revenue streams for the media giants should be evaluated seriously, and I think the movie studios will be careful not to offer their new releases too quickly.

More from CNBC.com

Questions?  Comments? 

© 2009 CNBC, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Tools:
PrintEmailAdd This share icon
  • digg share
ADD COMMENTS
Remaining characters


Current DateTime: 05:23:04 24 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29778428

Current DateTime: 01:04:16 24 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779196

Current DateTime: 01:09:39 24 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779199

Current DateTime: 07:49:43 24 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 29779198
  Data is a real-time snapshot  *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis

© 2009 CNBC, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
A Division of NBC Universal
Thomson ReutersThomson Reuters