Blockbuster to Rent Movies on TiVo

Execs hope these watchers will eventually translate into ad dollars

(NEWSER) - TV networks dismayed at low ratings early in the season are getting a ray of hope in the form of the once-feared DVR. Sure, ad buyers won’t pay out when a viewer watches Grey’s Anatomy on TiVo, but that and other shows are gaining a massive audience days after the broadcast. Execs think they will migrate back to primetime once the herd of new and returning shows thins. More»

(NEWSER) - Watch out Nielsen, here comes TiVo. The company that allows you to skip ads and store shows on its digital video recorder plans to sell your viewing habits to stations and advertisers, USA Today reports. Unlike Nielsen, TiVo can sell second-by-second breakdowns of the shows and ads people watch. But its privacy policies strop it from collecting data available to Nielsen, like demographic breakdowns. More»

Disciplined growth has helped it through many setbacks

(NEWSER) - Despite plenty of naysayers, Netflix boasts success like few other dot-coms, Chris O’Brien writes in the San Jose Mercury News. The movie-rental service reported record earnings despite the recession, “a neat trick that eBay and Yahoo could only dream of emulating.” Netflix’s innovative distribution system, inventory management, and prescient web-to-TV video streams have won it a permanent spot on the cutting edge. More»

Users can order Domino's pizza from their TVs

(NEWSER) - Hungry? Don't get up from the couch. TiVo customers can now order Domino's pizza right on their TVs, the Wall Street Journal reports, in a promotion that pops up when a customer forwards through a Domino's commercial. The promotion has two goals: Beefing up the pizza chain's bottom line—shares are down 71% in the past year—and taking advantage of DVR technology, which is popular with consumers but not advertisers. More»

Companies finally join forces to offer streaming video

(NEWSER) - Starting in December, TiVo owners will be able to watch Netflix movies and TV episodes on their televisions, Ars Technica reports. Consumers will need to own a compatible TiVo device and subscribe to both services to get access to over 12,000 movies and shows. The companies first discussed a partnership in 2004, but only today said they’ve begun testing the service. More»