One of the three points I laid out as TiVo’s keys to survival was to partner with more content providers. And just like that, Virigin Media announced it will be offering TiVo set-top boxes to its 3.8 million subscribers sometime this year. This move, along with the Conax partnership, makes TiVo a major player in the European DVR market. See, I told you the company didn’t deserve the deathwatch label.
However, Virgin Media subs will not be getting the just-announced Premiere model. It does seem, however, that it will be very similar as TiVo’s CEO Tom Rogers stated that the Series4 hardware “heavily inspire the development work” of Virigin’s model. Most of the features we’ve known here in the states will definitly be included, such as TiVo Search, Amazon, Youtube, along with the addition of BBC’s iPlayer.
TiVo won’t be the only new kid in town, though. Sky is also working on an internet-connected device — dubbed Project Canvas — that will offer streaming services as well. However, the project is still waiting BBC Trust approval. The irony here is that Sky introduced the UK to TiVo five years ago but the partnership fell apart and SKY ended up developing its own DVR.
The Daily Telegraph report states that the box should hit sometime before Christmas, but there isn’t any mention of expected up-front cost or monthly subscription rates. [Telegraph via Engadget