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Fuzzy Logic News Ltd slams TiVo and talks up Foxtel in article
Fuzzy Logic News Ltd slams TiVo and talks up Foxtel in article | News Ltd slams TiVo and talks up Foxtel in article |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Wednesday, 02 July 2008 | |
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Although news and advertising are always meant to be separate in journalism, what lines are drawn when the news organisation itself is a part owner of a service it is talking about? I guess that you, dear readers, will have to make up your own minds on that. So far, my iTWire colleague Adam Turner has written an article entitled “Hands on with Seven’s Australian TiVo” proclaiming that he likes what he sees, while my article "Seven gives Foxtel the heave-ho with TiVo" has explored the growing spat between Seven and Foxtel executives over the merits of their respective services. News Ltd’s Courier Mail article explains that consumer electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi isn’t interesting in selling the TiVo after Harvey Norman’s three month period of exclusivity is up and quotes JB Hi-Fi CEO Richard Uechtritz saying that the TiVo “wasn't up to scratch specs-wise and price-wise", that the 160GB of storage was “too low” and the $699 price “too high in the current soft consumer climate”. Uechtritz is then quoted saying “At the moment, it will be a hard sell because it's something brand new. Will people go out and spend $700 on something they don't particularly understand right now?" This is a bit of an odd question, seeing as personal video recorders have been with us for years, first in VCR format, then DVD, then hard drive, then DVD and hard drive, and even the Blu-Ray disc with hard drive combo recorder from Panasonic launched last month. There is also the Foxtel IQ box which has been on the market for some years, so to think that people “don’t understand” the TiVo concept just seems odd. Perhaps it’s sour grapes for not getting the TiVo contract in the first place? The Courier Mail article also notes that Seven originally wanted to only charge AUD $500 for the box and then a $10 monthly fee, but Harvey Norman baulked at the monthly fee for fear of “discouraging buyers”, although this information was not previously unknown but is actually well known. Of course Harvey Norman was right on that front, people hate monthly fees, all the monthly fees that people have add up and up and up and suddenly you’re paying out hundreds of dollars each month in “monthly fees”. So where’s the part of the article that sees the Courier Mail effectively promoting Foxtel? It’s over on page 2, please read on. |
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