In what I think is a great move by TiVo (TIVO), it has partnered with Amazon.com (AMZN) to offer video downloads directly to TV sets without the need for a computer.
While the Amazon and TiVo have been partners for several months, they didn't offer this service in the former deal, which required the use of a computer.
TiVo has been battling to find ways to differentiate itself and keep from becoming a commodity in the minds of DVR users, and this is a good step in that direction. At this time their competitors offer general DVRs included with their services.
The TiVo Unbox service will offer consumers with high-speed Internet access an opportunity to choose from around 10,000 movies and TV shows using their TiVo remote.
A lot of consumers have been waiting for something like this, which can bypass the computer and be viewed directly on their TV. It will give them a reason to stick around with TiVo for awhile.
With the Internet video space being full of download services that aren't really different from one another, this will help them to be different in that space as well.
The videos from TiVo are priced at an average of $4 for movie rentals and $2 for TV shows. Once it's downloaded to the set-top box, viewers can immediately watch it.
This also bypasses the need to have something that transfers the video from the computer to the television.
The question in my mind is if competitors will simply make deals with other media companies to offer a similar service. For now, TiVo has the market lead with this service, and should enjoy it for some time.
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