Aussie TiVo users to bleep, bloop and ding their way to pizza
[Via PVRblog]
Posts with tag Seven
[Via PVRblog]
TiVo completes hat-trick of profitable quarters, then slips
It's hard to believe that TiVo has been with us for 11-years, and even harder to understand how it's managed to hang around all that time with only three profitable quarters. TiVo closed out its second profitable quarter in a row on July 31st, but don't call off that deathwatch just yet -- the company followed up the good news with a gloomy Q3 forecast to the tune of a $7M - $9M net loss, and revenue below expectations. Mounting competition from cable and satellite operator is eating into the DVR pie, and getting things up and running with Comcast has been painfully slow. For TiVo's sake, we hope that things with Cox and Australia's Seven go a whole lot better, because cutting marketing costs to profitability in the competitive DVR market doesn't sound like a viable long-term strategy to us.Australian peace restored with free HD tuners
For all of our complaining about the long run-up to the analog shutoff here in the US, this story illustrates the benefits of taking time to do a little consumer education. In Australia, it turns out that not everyone was aware that TVs with analog-only tuners are unable to receive the HD programming that Seven and Ten are advertising so heavily. This all came to a boil with Ten's HD-only Masters golf broadcast, and some customers returned to stores with talk of "misrepresentation." Retailers are giving away digital set-top boxes to smooth things over, though, so hopefully things are cleared up for now. This sounds exactly like the kind of thing US big-box retailers avoided by clearing shelves of analog-only TVs, and we might suggest some similar action for other global HD citizens.
TiVo officially launches in Australia
TiVo Series 3 coming to Australia next month
Turf war down under: Seven's TiVo getting muscled out by Nine and Ten?
If you thought it was hard to keep track of the network players in the US, check out the roster in Australia. Seven Networks has been representing for TiVo for less than a year, but is now getting competition from Channels Nine and Ten. New markets don't just develop overnight, so the competition coming in the form of FreeView is no small thing. No knock on TiVo, which gets lots of love here in the US, but FreeView has a wide range of OEM and broadcaster support. And that broadcaster support may push things in FreeView's favor, forcing Seven to abandon plans to make TiVo a centerpiece of an Australian TV platform. Sad to think that the TiVo bleeps and bloops down under could go silent, eh?Australia / India Twenty20 match to be aired in 1080i
In what's believed to be an Australian first, the Twenty20 matchup between Australia and India is slated to be aired in 1080i. The event, which will occur on February 1, 2008 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, will be shot and broadcast in high-definition on Australia's Nine Network. The announcement is coming in the midst of competition between Seven, Nine and Ten to ramp up HD offerings, as Ten is already planning to broadcast every single 2008 AFL (Australian Football League) contest in HD while Seven aims to show the Beijing Olympics in 1080i. Meanwhile, we Americans will be gearing up for Super Bowl XLII.Aussies criticizing Seven Network for compressing HD feeds
Same story, different continent. The compression bug has seemingly struck again, and this time its aggravating those Down Under who'd like to enjoy Seven Network's 1080i programming in all of its high-definition glory. After just recently flipping the switch to broadcast content in HD, a sect of Australians have already begun to grumble over the "relatively low amount of bandwidth the network has allocated to the high-definition channel." Of course, it should be noted that "most" viewers have seen no reason to get bent out of shape, but for those relaxing in Oz, what say ye on the Seven situation?
