TiVo set to offer videos on demand over broadband

By Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 25 November 2009 08:31

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TiVo's Australian distributor, Hybrid Television Services, will launch today a service that delivers movies and other video content to TiVo devices over a broadband Internet connection.

CASPA On-Demand is Hybrid TV's brand name for what it promises will be "a world of broadband entertainment including new release movies, hit TV shows for the whole family as well as free music videos, artist interviews and music concerts."

Ericsson subsidiary Tandberg Television announced on 2 November that Hybrid TV was deploying "a complete suite of Tandberg Television software solutions," to support delivery of the service in Australia and New Zealand." Tandberg claimed "CASPA represents one of the first and largest implementations of true on-demand to the television in Australasia." Hybrid TV is due to hold a press conference today to announced details of the service.

The CASPA On-Demand service will be delivered using progressive download over a subscriber's existing broadband connection and will complement the free-to-air digital terrestrial television services available via TiVo receivers in New Zealand and Australia.

The CASPA service was launched in New Zealand at the end of October in partnership with Telecom New Zealand with Telecom providing TiVo users with access to unmetered Internet-delivered video content. Telecom NZ will also unmeter games and information services and the 14-day on-screen guide and software updates for the TiVo.

The TiVo launched in New Zealand in November and is sold bundled with a wireless (WiFi) adaptor for $NZ920. Telecom NZ also offers its broadband customers a deferred payment option of 24 monthly payments of $NZ30 plus an upfront initial payment of $NZ200 charged on their Telecom phone bill.

Hybrid TV is using Tandberg Television's new, WatchPoint content management system (CMS), OpenStream digital services platform on-demand back-office solution, AdPoint advertising platform and Xport producer storage encoding solution.

According to Tandberg Television, it and Ericsson "played a critical role in helping Hybrid TV meet its ambitious New Zealand launch deadline, creating a working beta solution within two months and enabling commercial roll-out a month later."

This article first appeared in ExchangeDaily, iTWire's daily newsletter for telecommunications professionals. Register here for your free trial.