Internet Outsider

TiVo Provides the Missing Movie-Download Link; Threatens Cable Cos

At long last, someone has finally addressed the gaping hole in the digital-movie-downloading business. TiVo's new deal to let subscribers rent or buy Amazon.com digital movies directly from their TiVo boxes removes an awkward step in the process: customers no longer have to futz with their computers to rent or purchase a movie. Now, they can just pick up the TiVo remote.

Perhaps this will finally light a fire under the cable companies, whose resistance to unforced innovation is legendary--and whose grasp on the digital rental market continues to slip. Or perhaps it won't...

Cable giants like Time Warner Cable, Cablevision and Comcast have been trying for years to boost revenue with on-demand movie rentals. But success has been hindered by limited movie selection, short viewing windows, and the inability to for viewers to purchase downloaded movies outright.

Meanwhile, online movie services like Amazon's Unbox or Apple's iTunes have required a computer to make the transaction and download the movie file. Getting the movies to play on TV has been even more complicated and expensive, requiring either a complex computer setup or a pricey gadget like Apple TV. TiVo's deal with Amazon solves some of these problems, allowing subscribers to buy movies without leaving the couch, or rent them for 30 days, often for less money than 24-hour cable rentals.

But don't short cable yet: TiVo's impact is limited by its modest presence -- only 4.3 million total subscribers, of which only a small percentage have set-top boxes compatible with the new service. Also cheap, no-brand DVRs built into cable boxes have already reduced TiVo's market share, and now that TiVo has blazed the trail, the cable companies are presumably free to strike similar deals of their own. Because digital-download services require a high-speed Internet connection, moreover, even the TiVo box is not a total loss for the cable companies.

In any case, expect more deals like this in the near future from companies like Apple, Microsoft and Sony, all of which are eager for a place in your living room -- at your cable company's expense.

Time Warner Chief Hallucinates at Cable Show, Speaks Truth

Dick Parsons must have puffed on something stronger than a peace-pipe before taking the stage at the National Cable & Telecommunications Conference this week.  Addressing the growing tension between Big Media and Google, et al, the normally thoughtful Time Warner chief drew an analogy to one of the most famous (and gruesome) battles in the conquest of the American west.

"The Googles of the world, they are the Custer of the modern world. We are the Sioux nation,"  Reuters quotes Parsons as saying, referring to the Civil War American general George Custer who was defeated by Native Americans in a battle dubbed "Custer's Last Stand." They will lose this war if they go to war," Parsons added, "The notion that the new kids on the block have taken over is a false notion."

Um, okay, but leaving aside the outcome and horrific violence of this particular clash (if memory serves, Sioux squaws completed the massacre by collecting scalps and family jewels from Custer's still-living soldiers), who won the war?  Despite his apparent intention to express confidence in Big Media, perhaps Parsons was actually just being his usual forthright self: Time Warner, et al (the Sioux Nation), might win a battle or two, but there's no question about which side will ultimately prevail.

More from Steve Baldwin.

Comcast: Making Sense of Yahoo, Tivo, Zimbra, and Triple Play

Jason Jones: According to ZDNet, Comcast plans to launch a new email client named SmartZone based on Zimbra's browser-based platform.  The service will target Comcast's 12 million high speed internet and digital voice service customers.  It will replace Comcast's existing email client and it is part of Comcast's broader strategy to integrate its triple play bundle.

How does this fit into the context of the Comcast-Tivo and Comcast-Yahoo deals? It is conceivable that SmartZone will be accessible from the Comcast-Tivo box in order to check email and voicemail from your TV.  One could imagine adding shows to the SmartZone calendar to be recorded at a later date or emailing clips of recorded shows directly from the set-top box.

It is interesting that even as Comcast digs in to differentiate itself from Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo, it has struck a major advertising deal with Yahoo.  Comcast.net has 15m uniques and 80m videos viewed per month.  Supposedly Yahoo will assume sales responsibility for approximately 80% Comcast.net’s ad inventory (Comcast's other web properties are not included), and Comcast’s Spotlight ad sales group will maintain sales for  the remaining 20% of the ad inventory.  It sounds like SmartZone will be a separate web property from Comcast.net, so Yahoo will not have this contract. 

In other Comcast news, this post suggests that a separate search contract could be worked out within the next month and that Google's contract with Comcast expires at the end of 2007.