Seven Network, through Hybrid Television Services, has found another way to get TiVo to consumers in Australia - the Qantas Frequent Flyer program. Members of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program may now redeem their points to acquire a TiVo, or combine their points with cash in Points Plus Pay to obtain TiVo at a lower cost. If you’re a member of the Qantas Frequent Flyer program you’ll find TiVo in the Frequent Flyer Store.
Via Smarthouse.
Seven Network has release the first sales figures for TiVo in Australia, and since they went on sale in July about 12,000 units have been sold, according to the Australian Financial Review. Seven is also believed to be negotiating further retail deals with Bing Lee, The Good Guys, Retravision, and Myer, in addition to their existing partners.
“Our aim was to double the size of the digital video recorder marker, which was about 50,000 in 2007,” Mr Warburton said. “We are on track to sell 25,000 by the end of December and are confident of reaching our 50,000 target.”
The 50,000 figure excludes DVRs sold by pay-television companies such as Foxtel, which has sold over 365,000 iQ & iQ2 DVRs since February 2005. Another pay-TV vendor, Austar United Communications reported 57,744 MyStar recorders sold by late October.
Seven says TiVo sales are running ahead of targets, due perhaps to their extensive marketing campaign. Seven spent an estimated AUD$3.5 million worth of airtime to promote TiVo during the Summer Olympics (which Seven Network aired). Since the Olympics their monthly marketing spend has been roughly AUD$200,000 between TV and print.
Overall it sounds like TiVo is doing fairly well down under.
TiVo issued a press release today announcing the release of their F3Q09 financial results and their next quarterly financial call:
TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO) announced today that it will release financial results for the third quarter ended October 31, 2008 after the market closes on Tuesday, November 25, 2008.
TiVo will host a conference call and webcast to discuss its third quarter financial and operating results and guidance outlook for the fourth quarter at 2:00 pm P.T. (5:00 pm E.T.) on the same day. To listen to the discussion, please visit http://www.tivo.com/ir and click on the link provided for the webcast. The webcast will be archived and available through December 2, 2008.
This weekend Amazon VOD offers two great movies as $0.99 rentals: Idiocracy and Serenity.
There is also a Veteran’s Day Sale, featuring nine movies to purchase for $5.99 each: The Patriot, Air Force One, Black Hawk Down, Tears of the Sun, The Hunt for Eagle One, The Hunt for Eagle One: Crash Point, Stealth, Sniper, and Sniper 3.
Hybrid Television Services, which was setup by Seven Network to distribute TiVo in Australia, continues to expand their retail partnerships. The latest addition is David Jones, which landed an exclusive department store nationwide distribution agreement. They join specialty stores Harvey Norman, Dick Smith, Clive Anthony’s, and JB Hi Fi in selling TiVo in Australia. They’d be on shelves in David Jones stores starting November 10th, for the same AUD$699
Via Smarthouse.
Joining Sorority Forever in the TheWB.com’s TiVoCast lineup are two new shows. Well, actually, I believe one has been in there for a little while and I just managed not to notice it until now. That program is Blue Water High, offering complete episodes of the Australian drama which Wikipedia describes as:
Blue Water High is an Australian television drama series, broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on ABC1 in Australia and on various channels in many other countries. Each season follows the lives of a young group of students at Solar Blue, a high-performance surf academy where several lucky 16-year-olds are selected for a 12-month-long surfing program on Sydney’s northern beaches.
Subscribe online or on your TiVo via Find Programs & Downloads -> Download TV, Movies, & Web Video -> Browse Free Videos -> All -> TheWB.com -> Blue Water High
The other show, which does seem to be a new addition, is High Drama. This is a short form program described as:
The students at Barnstable High School are known for showcasing the best high school productions in the country. Follow the cast and crew as they put on their best show yet: The Wizard of Oz.
Subscribe online or on your TiVo via Find Programs & Downloads -> Download TV, Movies, & Web Video -> Browse Free Videos -> All -> TheWB.com -> High Drama
And while I’m on the subject of TheWB.com, back when I caught the addition of Sorority Forever I said “Yeah, so I’ll be giving that a miss.” Well, I lied. I actually intended to ‘give it a miss’, but I’d added a Season Pass to it in the process of checking it out for that post, and I didn’t kill it. So episodes built up and I watched them. It is glossy and just about as shallow as I expected, but not quite bad enough that I’ve killed the SP. So yeah, I’m still watching it, though if it went away I wouldn’t miss it either. I’ve nearly killed the SP a couple of times.
The latest edition to the TiVoCast lineup is Jazz it Up!. As they describe themselves:
Jazz it Up! is the first web based TV news series to offer a direct look into the originated American musical art form of Jazz.
You will see and hear from some of the hottest Jazz performers, educators, students and promoters from around the world.
Subscribe online or on your TiVo via Find Programs & Downloads -> Download TV, Movies, & Web Video -> Browse Free Videos -> All -> Jazz it Up!
While I’m on the topic of TiVoCast, yesterday 3 Minute Ad Age seemed to go a bit crazy. My TiVo started downloading old episodes, going all the way back into September, again. And it downloaded some of them two or three times. I have my download limit set to 10, and I’d keep deleting them only to have ten more come down. So if you were seeing this, you’re not the only one. (Maybe I’m the only one, of course…) The good news is it eventually stopped, and today it downloaded a new episode as expected. So if your unit is still downloading old episodes just delete them and it’ll catch up.
Buy.com is selling Roxio Toast 9 for just $57.99, discounted from the $99.95 MSRP. Combined with a $20 mail in rebate it is just $37.99. Roxio Toast 9 is the only application officially sanctioned by TiVo for Mac OS to handle burning TiVoToGo files to DVD.
Tracy Sestili, TiVo’s Director of Operations, is auctioning off another autographed TiVo HD unit on eBay for charity. 100% of the proceeds are going to Stand Up To Cancer and The Beverly Fund.
This time the TiVo HD is autographed by Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Garner, Jack Black, Josh Grobin, Kirsten Dunst, and Ellen DeGeneres. The TiVo HD also includes product lifetime service, a $399 value that combined with the $299.99 MSRP of the box makes this a $698.99 value before the autographs - and right now the high bid is $400.
Tracy got the units autographed after winning the grand prize to sit in the celebrity phone bank on the Stand Up To Cancer show on September 5th.
The Auction ends November 9, 2008.