TiVo & Netflix To Offer Streaming Through TiVo DVRs

Netflix has been busy -- tonight they're announcing yet another streaming partner: TiVo. Netflix and TiVo will start testing the service with a few thousand customers, and most customers will have access to Netflix streaming by the holidays. Netflix streaming movies will be provided to TiVo subscribers at no cost (Netflix subscription required), but will be limited to TiVo Series 3, TiVo HD, and HD XL boxes (I'm a Series 2 owner, drat).

“For Netflix and TiVo subscribers, this collaboration offers a fabulously easy way to enhance the enjoyment of watching movies in the comfort of their living rooms,” said Reed Hastings, co-founder and CEO of Netflix. “Subscribers to Netflix and TiVo are avid movie watchers and this combination gives them immediate access to all of the great content available through TiVo and the thousands of additional choices available to be streamed instantly from Netflix.”

Netflix and TiVo have been talking for years about working together, but last year TiVo partnered with Amazon's Unbox service, and I wondered at the time if it was an exclusive deal.

Netflix has lined up an impressive group of hardware partners for streaming movies: Roku, LG, Microsoft, Samsung, and now TiVo. Based on Netflix CEO Reed Hasting's desire to get 100+ hardware streaming partners, I think we'll see more announcements in the coming months.

What do you think about Netflix's streaming strategy and partnerships?

Comments

[webdh]

Terrific news! Is there a way to get on the early priority for this?

[sally]

What will the video quality be like from this service? Anywhere close to DVD quality? Does it depend on the speed of your internet connection?

[stesmo]

I love that they've joined up with TiVo!!

Sadly, I have a TiVo 2 as well. Oh, and I might consider buying an XBOX 360, but not if I have to buy a subscribtion to Live Gold. And, I'd buy the Roku if it also did Hulu.

So far, Netflix's partners are always just one inch away from me being able to use / justify the cost of getting Netflix on a non-PC device.

[S]

Oh happy day!

[Joel Risberg]

I love both my Tivo and NetflixPlayer (Roku) boxes, so I'm anxious to see how the Tivo Netflix service will compare to my Roku box. Will buffering be less of an issue with no 64-megabyte limitation? Does it open the door for storing the films at least temporarily on the drive -- maybe to make viewing HD resolutions workable even on a slower connection?

And if you're a Tivo subscriber and Netflix streaming works at least as well as it does on the Roku box, will you get rid of the Roku box? The answer for me is probably yes.

Joel

[Scott Rose]

This is exciting! I have both a TiVo HD and a Roku Netflix box. If this works well, then I can sell my Roku Netflix box and just do everything through my TiVo HD box! :)

[Drew]

What BS. I was giddy as shit when I saw Netflix and TiVo together....but then I saw "series 3"....apparently us Series 2'ers just aren't that appealing anymore....no Youtube....no netflix....:(

[treycranson]

I'm with Drew. This was kind of a roller coaster of let down.

[Justin]

Series 2 owners get the shaft, again.

Sigh.

Thanks, Tivo.

No Windows 3.1 support! This sucks!

[Jax Maxton]

Atari 2600? Any word?

[dAVe]

TiVo only works with OTA & Cable. And with cable companies winning the court case to deploy "Networked DVR" the time of TiVo's tyranny may come to a close.

[Fabian]

I would like to see the TIVO's percentage of Series 2 users, if its more than 35% of their base then it truly is a let down and kind of a slap in the face of the customers that have kept TIVO going all these years. Series 2 can already do content downloading, why cant it do this?

Something in Series 2 tech must prevent streaming, cant imagine what though.

[dAVe]

An 08/2008 article on www.tvpredictions.com has TiVo self reporting 3.6 million subscribers, down from 4.2 million a year ago. It doesn't bust it down to machine version numbers but the HD offering hasn't been in the market that long.

[leonardodicrapio]

I have two S3's and two S2's (although one of the S2's should have been retired over six months ago but will be retired by the end of the year, hopefully). The three I am keeping are all on Lifetime Service.

There are hardware limitations of the S2 which do not allow it to stream video (transferring or downloading a recording to the S2 hard drive is different than streaming). I believe the S3 can stream YouTube content whereas the S2 cannot.

[nipsey russell]

comcast tivo???
nah, couldnt be. and anyway, i dont believe those exist.

[Dave Zatz]

Netflix streams their video as VC-1. Series2 TiVo's are only capable of decoding MPEG-2. Sign of the times... to upgrade. High def "modern" TiVo units have come way down in price. I've seen them under $200 in fact. While I can't speak for anyone's financial situation other than my own, it's quite affordable compared to say the original $800 launch price of the Series3.

[Jeff from Knowzy]

Finally! I'm so looking forward to this.

It is a shame that Series 2 owners don't get to join in the fun.

The dilemma S2 owners face is not so much the cost of upgrading to S3 but losing the return on investment on their lifetime subscriptions.

I've got about 3 years before I break even on my Series 3 lifetime subscription.

[TB]

I'm hoping for a PS3 partnership personally. Not really in the market for a Roku or 360, got the PS3 as a blu-ray so don't need another player either.

[Steven Hoober]

Yeah... Tell me when it's on my Dish PVR. They also have ethernet and easily update OTA, so I'd love to wake up one morning with that feature on there.

Aside from finding TiVo vaguely annoying, Dish (just for one example) has almost 14MM subscribers. If even the national average of 20% of those are DVRs (and I have to believe it's a hell of a lot higher) that's 2.8MM of those.

And that's just one provider. TiVo? Sorta who cares. I don't know /anyone/ with an actual TiVo unit.

[Lee]

Is it true that the Series 3 and Hd one will not work with Satellite. I went to Tivo's site yesterday to see how much the Series 3 cost now and on the compatiblity chart it said NO to Sat. I have Directv. Why is that so different that a cable box

[chris]

"What would be a point of EVER getting a TiVo? Only shows I like are Dog The Bounty Hunter, The Office, Flight of the Conchords, and Big Brother."

The point of getting a DVR is to be able to watch TV shows when you want to. Either you are stupid to figure this out or you somehow think that you behavior is exactly like everyone else in the world.

OK.... so with TiVo and DirecTV partnering up next summer (for now) with the HD DirecTiVo... I need them to really hook it up and allow me to stream (SD and HD) movies (wirelessly) over the internet...with alllll the technical fixin's

[Rowell]

Great news! I just bought a TiVo HD and was about to purchase the Roku. Great to know that I don't need to spend another hundred for the Roku :)

[rkba]

DishNetwork DVRs have ethernet ports. Any rumors of any discussions between Netflix and DishNetwork to stream the Netflix instant plays?

[spike]

I have a series I with lifetime service.

You kids get off my lawn!