Newsweek is reporting that Netflix and TiVo are soon to team up to offer a film on demand service. Netflix currently operate a DVD-by-post delivery mode, but clearly that doesn’t cater for the people at home who don’t really fancy waiting three days for their chosen film to show up.
In many ways, the two companies were made for each other – Netflix has a huge library of films, there are TiVo boxes sitting under thousands of television in the US.
The proposed service will allow subscribers to download DVDs directly to their TiVo box via their broadband link home, and then watch them on their television. No popping out to the video shop, no waiting for the post, no crowding around a PC to watch downloaded films.
TiVo’s first step in this direction was its acquisition of Strangeberry earlier this year – the company produced a technology that allowed TiVo owners to plug a broadband modem into the back of their PVR and download media from the internet. Since then, TiVo have made hardware and software upgrades to their platform, and improved security and other copy protection features.
If Netflix can get distribution rights to their entire library, then many people may never go out again – and the Netflix name will finally make sense.