TiVo Adds Web-Video Capability

Desktop Plus PC Software Will Enable Users to Subscribe to RSS Feeds of Their Favorite Web Shows

By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/18/2008 10:55:00 AM

One week after announcing that it would add YouTube to its video offerings, TiVo is making good on a promise it made at the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show and adding Web-video offerings on its digital-video recorders.

After installing TiVo’s Desktop Plus PC software, users will be able to subscribe to RSS feeds of their favorite Web shows -- everything from shows on College Humor’s CHTV to Ask a Ninja. Users will also be able to transfer home videos from their computers to their DVRs.

"Through the addition of new applications such as Web video, we continue to build toward our goal of making TiVo the one-stop shop for content, through one box and one integrated user interface,” said Tara Maitra, vice president and general manager of content services for TiVo, in a statement. “With our combination of premium content available through Amazon Unbox, millions of songs via Rhapsody and, soon, YouTube videos, we feel like we're connecting consumers to entertainment in a way no one else can."

The Web-video application only works with Windows PCs for now, although the company said it is working with Roxio to enable Mac compatibility.