But what if you’re an ANZ TiVo user already and you don’t want to have to buy a new box? Well, there have been do-it-yourself drive upgrades for a while, just as in the US. But that’s more than many users feel comfortable with – pulling the drive, copying the software to the new drive, etc. Well, now there is an easier way. Long time TiVo upgrade vendor WeaKnees.com today announced that they’re now selling drop-in replacement drive upgrade kits up to 2TB in capacity. The 320GB drive is $199.99, 500GB $249.99, 1TB $299.99, and 2TB $399.99 – all prices in US dollars. They also sell replacement remotes and network adapters for ANZ units.

So there you go, two ways ANZ users can record more.

Now, Hybrid TV Services has had a bit of a rough time. After their primary backer, Seven Network, declined to invest more in the company, and sales didn’t meet initial expectations (despite being the top selling DVR platform in ANZ), Hybrid was forced to lay off a large portion of their staff. But they remain the best selling DVR platform in ANZ and seem to be making slow but steady progress in building their customer base. I don’t think a change in CEOs is any kind of bad omen, especially as Minicola isn’t jumping ship, she’s still involved via the BoD.

We don’t know what triggered the move, but seeing as she’s not just leaving the CEO position but is leaving a country she’s lived in for nearly three decades to return to the US, I suspect there are reasons outside of anything to do with Hybrid TV Services and TiVo. She’s originally from the US, it could be personal reasons such as a family issue that led her to decide to return to the US, and that move necessitated stepping down. Who knows? The point is that it could be any one of a number of reasons and we shouldn’t read too much into it.

However, techAU seems to feel it is a terrible sign, as they covered the change with an article entitled“Head of TiVo Australia leaves for the US, future looks grim“. It includes statements such as“As an owner and fan of TiVo, its incredibly frustrating that TiVo is being left to die like this. There has now been multiple models and updates released internationally that have not made it to Australia.”, which I think is just a tad melodramatic. Left to die? Really?

Yes, TiVo in ANZ is based on the TiVo HD Series3 platform, as is the software, but so what? The hardware is unique to ANZ, designed to support only DVB-T. The services it supports are unique to ANZ as well, such as CASPA. The TiVo Premiere Series4 platform wouldn’t offer all that much of an advantage in that unique service environment. Broadband costs are high so there aren’t many OTT options, and unless you’re using a pay TV service you’re basically limited to OTA DVB-T aka Freeview, as TiVo uses. It would be a major investment to design a new ANZ box based on the Series4 platform and to put it into production and I’m not sure Hybrid could justify the expense when the return is questionable and funds are already tight. The current platform is already a leader in the local market, and that’s really what is important. You design a product based on what is appropriate for the target market, not based on what is done for other, very different markets.

Rumors of Hybrid’s imminent demise have been running since last year, so I find it hard to put too much weight on them without new evidence. Robbee Minicola is no longer the CEO, yes that’s a major change, but it isn’t a sign of the end times. Stay calm. I wish Robbee the best in whatever she has planned next, and I wish the best for Hybrid TiVo Services and the TiVo customers in ANZ. I hope the service continues to grow and becomes successful and sustainable.

EDIT: As some of you know, I cross-post TiVo-related entries from this blog to the TiVoLovers LiveJournal Community, including this one. It seems the cross post tripped one of Robbee’s alerts and she (or someone claiming to be her at any rate) posted the following comment:

Hey zonereyrie

Thanks so much for your kind words and correctly assuming all is good with Hybrid and I simply wanted to head back to the US. Yes the reasons are mostly family, but I am looking forward to being at the pointy end of things in Silicon Valley, LA and NYC.

It was an honor to be asked to go on the Board – and it is a great feeling to remain linked to the business and the customers.

I actually stuffed up on the tweet – meant to send it only to my linkedin connections but the darn twitter box was ticked and it went out to everyone!

Take care
Robbee Minicola

hey zonereyrie

coupla things to note … you can buy a TiVo and activate it just not during certain daytime hours. so you can certainly activate at night – which 80% of our new customers do which is why we are carrying out the maintenance in the daytime and on weekdays

also – you are right, it’s a heck of a lot of time to bolster the service for our increased customer base – but the other thing we are doing is switching our network provider which caused a load of IP changes across TiVo and CASPA – so we opted to do the lot in one hit seeing as we brought people from TiVo in the US and people from Ericsson overseas to do the upgrade work

my sincere apologies for the hassle – but it does mean we are solid going forward.

cheers
Robbee Minicola
CEO
hybrid tv

The comment was left by someone not logged into LJ, so I only have the IP address, no email, etc. Now, it does seem a bit unusual for a CEO to be commenting on an LJ post, but it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seen such a thing. Especially with smaller companies, and Hybrid is fairly small. Same goes for the fairly informal language, I’ve had past exchanges with other C-level execs that were equally informal. And the information provided makes sense. I could certainly see Robbee, or someone at Hybrid, having an automated search running looking for any mentions of Hybrid and/or TiVo, and/or monitoring known TiVo user communities. (I have several such automated searches setup to help alert me to news for the site, as well as flag mentions of the site elsewhere.) And I’m not surprised that the LJ post would come up before this site did – given the hiatus I lost a bit of Page Rank. And the comment does echo an update I found on an iGadget Report article about the outage:

Update: Minicola says the times chosen for the maintenance were selected because they will have the “least impact” on the majority of customers.

We chose those dates/times because we knew they would have the least impact as the majority of our new customers install and activate their new TiVo at night or on weekends and they will not suffer from this maintenance work.

As for our existing customers, their TiVo will function perfectly as per usual during our maintenance – just CASPA goes offline and again that is only during the daytime which has proven to be the lowest usage period.

So we chose these days/times specifically with our customers needs and habits in mind.

So while I wouldn’t swear to it without confirmation, I think this probably is the real Robbee Minicola, CEO of Hybrid TV Services. And, if so, I think it is pretty darn cool that she responded to a post out in the community.

(And yes, I’m ‘zonereyrie’ on LJ. I just barely missed snagging ‘megazone’ for my username, it having been grabbed for a community – ironically, given the subject of this post, out of Australia. Said community has been defunct for nearly seven years now, but the name is still tied up.)

During the maintenance work on the TiVo and CASPA services, various features may be unavailable, including the CASPA On-Demand service, My Account functionality, TiVo Genie, and Games and Showcases. Additionally, activation of new TiVo accounts will be unavailable during this period, so it isn’t a good time to buy a new TiVo. But this should be a short period of inconvenience in exchange for a more robust system going forward.

Still, putting my datacom professional hat on, I wonder how the back end is architected. Normally you design things such that the ability to failover and upgrade doesn’t cause an outage. The short version is that you setup the new infrastructure in parallel, then cut over in one go. Or you cut the traffic to half the systems, upgrade, then cut over to the upgraded servers, upgrade the rest, then bring them all back. That’s oversimplifying, but I’ve done this for years and it is pretty common. Services you use daily do this all the time and you never know it. Hopefully that’s a lesson learned and this upgrade will also set the foundation for future upgrades without prolonged outages.

Via iTWire.

Despite the struggles, Hybrid TV Services claims that TiVo is in it for the long haul in ANZ. Hybrid is looking to the Australian government’s plans to disable analog broadcasts over the next few years as an opportunity. The switch to digital means that consumers will need digital-capable tuners, a roll TiVo is more than happy to fill.

In the meantime, hopefully Hybrid can sustain enough subscriber growth to keep the business viable and maintain the service for their existing subscribers, who are understandably tense after past events.

Via iTech Report.

APCMag.com has more news on what’s coming for TiVo in Australia. By the end of the week Hybrid TV Services will be offering three games, Classy Couples, Sudoku and Wild Pair, as well as a world clock and horoscopes. Joining them soon will be PixelEye, a service which provides access to Photobucket and Picasa – which US TiVo users already enjoy.

Coming on February 3, 2009 will be a 1TB external drive, eSATA I presume. I’d like to see 1TB offered here, currently the official expansion drive is 500GB. Also coming in early 2009 will be the addition of DMG Radio channels Nova and Vega FM, providing music through TiVo. And they did confirm Domino’s Pizza ordering is coming in early 2009 as well.

They’ve also released some statistics. The first test title for broadband movie downloads, The Water Horse, has been downloaded by 25% of TiVo owners. And 73% of TiVo users access the weather information currently available via broadband at least once a week.

For users interesting in owning their TiVo outright, but for whom the AUD$699 cost is too much to swallow in one go, a 10-payment plan is also offered. AUD$69.90 a month for 10 months covers the cost of the TiVo.

The up-front, no fees and retail options remains for user who prefer that option.

Foxtel’s General Manager Box Office, New Media and Pay-Per-View, Brenden Moo responded by saying“I was under the impression that TiVo were not going to offer a subscription service their new Flexirent offering smacks of a disguised subscription fee”. That is one way to look at it, but he may be concerned as Foxtel’s pay-TV service subscription costs from AUD$37.95 up to AUD$105.95 depending on the package, and their iQ2 HD DVR is an additional AUD$200 up-front. So a TiVo subscription package priced about the same as their low-end offer with no up-front fee could provide some strong competition.

There’s another interesting tidbit on the TiVo Australia website, while they’re using MPEG-2 today for movie downloads, by March 2009 they plan to use MPEG-4 to reduce bandwidth usage and speed up downloads. Since other announcements for Australia have later appeared in the US it makes me wonder if we’ll be seeing MPEG-4 movie downloads in the US soon.

Perhaps it is the “post purchase satisfaction” they talk about in the marketing world or just the fact that it has a nice, uncluttered, user interface and an intuitive remote control, but I am growing rather attached to my new DVR.

I found it interesting because it isn’t the usual techie review, but more of a journal of the experience, brief as it is. She and her family ran into a few issues that other users may well experience, such as needing to configure their home network and sorting out how to wire their system with a TiVo and DVD player. I think it is a good view into the experience for folks just thinking of getting their first TiVo.

Seven’s major competitor is the pay-TV service Foxtel, which offers their Foxtel iQ2 DVR. While the iQ2 is only AUD$200, AUD$500 less than TiVo, there is a monthly fee. The iQ2 costs AUD$10-15 on top of the standard Foxtel subscription (Foxtel is a Pay TV service), which runs AUD$37.95 up to AUD$105.95 a month, depending on the level of service. Since the TiVo records free-to-air broadcasts and has no monthly fee, it rapidly becomes the less expensive option.

Well, with TiVo selling well in Australia, it seems that Foxtel is making moves to remain competitive. Rapid TV News reports that Foxtel is offering discounts and better contract terms on their DVRs. The Foxtel iQ SD DVR is being offered without an install fee and free of the AUD$10 monthly DVR fee for one year. The iQ2 HD DVR is still AUD$200 upfront, but Foxtel is waiving the DVR fee for seven months. They’re also offering the service with a 12-month commitment, instead of their usual 24-month plan.

In the end competition is good for consumers.

[F]or Seven Network, “the horse has bolted”.

“The iQ is the industry standard,” Mr Williams said.

“I see TiVo as a latecomer with little to recommend it.”

Sounds to me like someone is worried, you don’t need to take swipes like this at a competitor if they’re really no threat to your business.

The currently available SDK was last updated over a year ago, on 10/2/2007, and that’s an experimental release. The last official release was over three years ago, on 10/31/2005. The SDK is woefully out of date, even the experimental release has iffy HD support and there is no support for recently added features, like streaming video, which are possible as the hacker community has reverse engineered how to do it. I do hope the Australian developers will get an updated SDK so they can create some great applications, and they won’t be hobbled by the same lack of support as US developers. The good news is any application developed for Australia will probably work on US TiVos as well, so hopefully we’ll see some cool new applications.

Picked up from Gizmodo Australia.

Press release:

TiVo® media device opens up to local developers
Amateur and professional developers invited to expand the free games and services available on the Australian TiVo media device

iDEF, Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, 13 November 2008 – Today at the International Digital Entertainment Festival, Hybrid Television Services (ANZ) Pty Ltd, the exclusive licensee of TiVo® products in Australia and New Zealand issued an invitation to anyone interested in building games and broadband applications for the media device to get involved with TiVo.

The Australian roadmap for the media device includes enhancements to the free Games and Services Packs in coming months. Today, local developers are invited to submit concepts for both games and services for distribution on the TiVo platform in Australia.

The media device’s open Home Media Engine (HME) platform uses Java programming, making it easy for developers to reach a growing audience of TiVo fans with their games and applications. Both amateur and professional developers who attend the breakout sessions at the eGames Expo (www.idef.com.au/egames_home.php) this week will be able to learn more about the product roadmap and revenue model in addition to understanding what is required to develop for the TiVo platform.

Hybrid TV CEO, Robbee Minicola, commented: “Every TiVo media device in Australia comes with a free Games Pack, with Sudoko joining the list in the coming weeks, and our Services Pack recently launched with the new Sunrise Weather application.”

“Our goal is to continue to add advertiser-funded services and games for our customers to enjoy without a pay-per-use or subscription cost. The games we have are traditional, low-to-mid skill based, nostalgic games that the whole family will enjoy. Australia has some of the most talented developers in the world and the opportunity to work with local talent and showcase their work through the TiVo media device will achieve the trifecta: great experiences for our customers; advertiser sponsorship in a viewer-engaged environment; and a revenue opportunity for our partner developers.”

Developers who are unable to attend the eGames breakout session can register their interest in developing for TiVo in Australia by emailing developers@tivo.com.au.

Via Smarthouse.

“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.

Via Smarthouse.

As in the US, there will also be interactive broadband games available to TiVo users. But, unique to Australia, there will also be basic food and grocery shopping services offered over TiVo. That’s curious, I’m not sure if that kind of service is popular in Australia. Despite buying pretty much everything online, groceries have never been something I’ve bought online. Though I know some people who use services like Peapod, and I hear grocery delivery is more common in cities.

Something else the Australian TiVo will offer is pizza ordering. Now that I can understand, and it is something I’ve suggested TiVo do in the US. I order pizza online via the web from my local Papa Johns, and I order online from other places that offering. Ordering via the web is just easier and more accurate than calling in an order, in my experience, especially when you can pay via credit card. It shouldn’t be hard to write an order front end in HME for the sites. Different vendors could do it themselves, but users would have to manually add them to their TiVo so it would be more valuable of they just showed up on every TiVo like Fandango for movie tickets. C’mon TiVo, you know it is a good idea – skim a little fee on each pizza. But I digress…

It sounds like the focus for broadband content and services on the Australian TiVo will be advertising supported, with pay-per-view on some of the premium offerings. The ad-funded content will work much like ad-supported content on the Internet with short breaks of no more than to ads before, in the middle, and at the end of the program. As broadband rates can be high in Australia, and bandwidth caps much lower than in the US, they’re approaching ISPs to offer an unmetered download service for TiVo devices, to be called TiVo Uncapped, separate from the home’s standard Internet service.

“Australian consumers today are quite savvy and willing to invest in digital devices that will stay relevant over time as well as bring ongoing services and benefits,” said Uechtritz. “We believe the TiVo media device will achieve this.”

The article in Current also mentions that“Clive Anthony’s store will also stock TiVo.” So now that’s Harvey Norman, Dick Smith, Clive Anthony’s, and JB Hi Fi. (And, seriously, what’s up with the men’s names for electronics stores?)

“The storage device will be exclusive to the TiVo and will record HD Television. Consumers will not be able to attach the device to other computers or recorders. The TiVo software will automatically see the device and record to it when the storage built into the device is full”.

In the US, of course, it is a standard Western Digital 500GB eSATA My DVR Expander, and the same drive works with Scientific Atlanta cable DVRs as well as with any PC that supports eSATA. Now, this could simply be the ‘Seven Media insider’ who was talking to Smarthouse not knowing that they were talking about. It is true that once you attach a drive to the TiVo it is formatted for the TiVo and you cannot them connect it to another device without reformatting it. But eSATA is eSATA and the drive can be reformatted and reused. I tend to suspect that will actually be the case in Australia too.

Smarthouse also says Seven is set to roll out the TiVo to other retailers, now that Harvey Norman’s three month exclusive is up, including retailer Dick Smith. (What is it with Australian retailers and guys names?) Retailer JB Hi Fi CEO Richard Uechtritz says they still haven’t decided if they will stock TiVo.

Interestingly this story comes just one day after Smarthouse posted a rumor mongering story entitled “Is Seven Media Set To Dump Tivo?” In that story they claimed that ‘Seven Media insiders’ told them that sales through Harvey Norman failed to hit targets and that they were now ‘reviewing their options’. They also said it was “slammed by reviewers.” And pulled this bit from the Australian PC Magazine:

PC Magazine wrote “unlike its US counterpart, the Aussie TiVo is a crippled box. Shipping with a 160GB HD, the TiVo allows you to record up to a pathetic 32 hours of HD or 62 of SD television.

Having personally read a lot of reviews of the Australian TiVo, I have to wonder about the agenda behind this particular Smarthouse article. The reviews of the Australian TiVo have been overwhelmingly positive. Yes, there are issues, and probably the primary one is the hard drive size. But APC was also off base saying it was ‘crippled’ compared to the US box – it has the same 160GB drive. It has lacked the option for eSATA expansion available in the US, but, as above, that’s coming. And calling 32 hours of HD ‘pathetic’? A wee bit of hyperbole. That’s more recording time than the original TiVo models had at all. And more than the TiVo HD has in the US (we tend to have higher bitrates, apparently.) And most users are happy with it. I remember reading that APC ‘review’ when it first appeared, particularly because it was probably the single harshest review of the lot and the only one that I recall being wholly negative. It seemed like the author started out looking for reasons to slam the TiVo. It read more like a rant than a review.

Smarthouse goes on to say “A key problem for Seven Media is content and the emergence of IPTV which will allow consumers to download movies and other content to a HD TV screen.” Yet the author doesn’t say why this is a problem. This is odd, especially since Seven Network has stated that this is specifically not a problem, quite the opposite, since the TiVo will also server as their IPTV gateway into the home. It struck me as very strange that the author would lay this out as a problem with nothing to support the argument when Seven’s stated plans for TiVo include broadband content delivery and IPTV features.

Smarthouse then goes on to talk about Nero’s LiquidTV and declares it a threat to Seven’s TiVo offering. But while they mention it goes on sale October 15th, they fail to mention that’s only in the US, Canada, and Mexico. And really, those who will opt for an HTPC are mostly a different market from those who will opt for an STB. LiquidTV | TiVo PC is no more a thread to Seven’s TiVo box than it is a threat to standalone TiVos in the US – basically none. And that, of course, hinges on some future launch of a version for Australia. The North American version won’t do any good as you need an EPG feed to use it.

The whole article just seemed like sensationalism without any real evidence to back it up, just rumors and unfounded speculation.

So if you’re an Australian interested in TiVo, or anyone interested in TiVo’s Australian doings, you might be interested in this channel.

Spotted by Alex at TiVo Blog.

“TiVo has been an innovation leader since its inception. It has changed the whole TV viewing experience through their innovative DVR solutions over the years. We are excited about the fact that Wipro’s multi-country compliant DVB-T stack, along with DVB-CI stack, has been adopted by TiVo for their DVR solutions.” Said Nagamani Murthy, Vice President, Mobile Consumer Electronics & Automotive Group,Wipro Technologies

Interesting how they explicitly mention ‘multi-country compliant’. Perhaps I’m reading too much into it, but it has always been fairly clear that TiVo plans to attack the European market. They’ve exhibited EFIGS (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish) software at CES. They had a generic DVB-T platform on display next to the Australian box. The only really questions are when and where. I still think the UK is the logical choice for the first European market since DVB-T Freeview is popular and they already have the infrastructure in place to support the lingering UK customers from their first foray there.

There have also been hints that New Zealand will likely follow Australia once the Australian market has settled down a bit.

- Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was $10.6 million compared to a loss of $(11.2) million in the year-ago quarter, exceeding guidance
- Net Income for the second quarter was $2.9 million compared to a loss of $(17.7) million in the year-ago quarter
- TiVo service on Comcast now available in Connecticut; Comcast will also continue to fund development work for the TiVo product to expand the feature set and add support for the Tru2way infrastructure
- TiVo and Entertainment Weekly join forces to connect TV viewers with their favorite shows on an automatic basis
- TiVo successfully launched in Australia by Seven Networks
- YouTube videos now available on the TiVo service; TiVo now provides access to more television and broadband content choices than any other offering in the world
- TiVo’s recent research deal with media marketing research firm TRA ties anonymous viewing behavior to product purchases in millions of homes; Significantly changing the quality of information available to marketers

TiVo is continuing to bleed subscribers, which was expected. With DirecTV continuing to push their in-house HR20/21 DVRs are upgrades for DirecTiVo users, even with additions from Comcast, Cox, and Cablevision Mexico, TiVo lost 136,000 net MSO/Broadcaster subscribers. And while TiVo added 36,000 gross TiVo-owned subscribers, they lost 78,000 gross TiVo-owned subs, for a net loss of 42,000 TiVo-owned subscribers. This is mainly due to legacy subscribers upgrading to HDTV and opting for cable or satellite DVRs. This leaves TiVo with 1.686 million TiVo-owned subscriptions and 3.623 total cumulative subscriptions.

This may sound bad, but it is also partly because TiVo has made massive cuts in their marketing efforts to focus on profitability instead of subscriber growth. For the quarter just ended their subscriber acquisition cost was only $135, a massive decrease from the $758 of a year ago, and only a slight up-tick from the $118 of last quarter. Instead of lots of marketing, subsidies, and rebates, which drive up SAC, TiVo is focusing on working with retailers and other vendors to bundle TiVo with HDTV purchases to capture those upgraders before they pick up another DVR. They’re also focusing on their partnerships with Cablevision Mexico, Comcast, Cox, and Seven Network in Australia.

And in that area things are looking good. The TiVo launch in Australia with Seven Network has been going well and TiVo is happy with it, though actual figures have not been released. And Comcast is finally ready to start a major marketing push and to announce more territories:

In regards to our mass distribution strategy, a top Comcast executive offered the following comments on the progress the TiVo on Comcast service has made to date: “We are pleased with the progress of the TiVo service and have broadened its footprint in our New England market to Connecticut. Refinements to optimize the product’s performance have been mostly completed, significantly improving the user experience. Importantly, we intend to light up a full marketing campaign around TiVo in September and, upon this occurring, we will be announcing multiple additional markets to which TiVo will be rolled out through next year. We will also continue to fund development work for the TiVo product, which will include expanding the feature set and adding support for Tru2way infrastructure.”

Rogers stated, “Additionally, the TiVo service on Cox, which is currently in trials, is on track for a launch in Cox’s New England market later this year.”

“On the international front, Seven and TiVo successfully launched the TiVo service in Australia and because of the significant consumer demand there, retailers chose to release the product early. We are also extremely pleased with the marketing shoulder Seven is putting behind this launch as they’ve prominently featured TiVo in their marketing and programming including the Olympic opening ceremonies, their top rated morning show, and a special advertising spot they developed, which includes dozens of Australian celebrities. International distribution is an increasingly important component of our business model and there continues to be tremendous interest from international distributors for the TiVo offering.”

During the Q&A session when asked if Comcast had gotten to the point where they don’t require a truck roll for the TiVo software install, Rogers answered that that issue was a dependency on non-TiVo software and that Comcast was close to deploying the solution. It sounded like that was the gating factor for Comcast to launch the marketing effort, and that also helps explain Comcast’s satisfaction despite the delays, it doesn’t sound like it was TiVo’s problem.

During the Q&A session at the end of the call, Rogers once again mentioned a tru2way TiVo box, what the user community has started calling a ‘Series4′. He didn’t offer any specifics (unsurprisingly), but his feeling is that it will take more time for the industry to establish a national tru2way playing field to make it viable to release such a product. Personally I think that they may show something, prototype perhaps, at CES in January with the release for later in 2009 as most of the cable MSOs have pledged to have tru2way in place by July, 2009. Just my speculation.

You can get more information from TiVo’s release and key metrics.

Picked up from TiVo Blog.

[Gerry Harvey] also revealed the TiVo digital recording device brought to Australia by the Seven Network had been a surprise hit.

Seven launched TiVo as a direct free-to-air counter to Foxtel’s IQ device and gave Harvey Norman exclusive rights to sell the product for the first six weeks.

Seven is supporting the TiVo with ads in high rotation during the Olympics.

“We have sold more than three times what I would have expected — and again, I think the Olympics have been a factor.

“I didn’t think TiVo would be a big seller. Sometimes you just never know.”

Selling more than three times that was expected sounds like good news to me. I’m looking forward to seeing some hard sales figures for TiVo in Australia eventually. I’ve seen various mentions in journals and blogs and the general reception from those buying them has been positive. The DVB-T platform seems to be working well, which gives some hope that TiVo will re-enter the UK market (where DVB-T is also used, commonly called Freeview) and also additional world markets where DVB-T is used.