TiVo and Netflix are joining forces to provide a variety of various options to subscribers using both firms' movie DVD and Blu-ray rental and broadband service (Netflix) and hard-disc recording capabilities (TiVo). The services will be known as TiVo Series3, TiVo HD and TiVo HD XL, which will allow customers to "instantly" stream thousands of film and TV titles from Netflix directly to their TV sets. Netflix says it currently has about 8.7 million subscribers.
The two companies have begun beta-testing the system in only a few thousand homes and plan to ramp up the new service to all subs by year's end. Netflix said instantly watching content derived from Netflix's current library of about 12,000 titles (less than 10 percent currently in HD) on a TV monitor (via TiVo DVR) will be free for subs who are signed up for both TiVo and Netflix. (TiVo, like Netflix, also bills subs monthly.)
While the new agreement will allow streaming to TV sets, in a sort of reverse-logic for streaming these days, it will not allow viewing on PCs or Macs.
