Blockbuster OnDemand coming to TiVo
By Richard Lawler 
posted Mar 25th 2009 9:10AM
posted Mar 25th 2009 9:10AM
Blockbuster And TiVo Announce Agreement To Make BLOCKBUSTER® OnDemand Available Through The TiVo Service And to Promote TiVo DVRs Throughout Retail Stores Nationwide
Blockbuster to Make Extensive Library of Digital Content Available to Millions of TiVo Movie Enthusiasts
Further Distinguishes TiVo as the Best Single Solution for Delivery and Easy Navigation of Broadband Content to the TV
ALVISO, CA, and DALLAS, TX (March 25, 2009) – Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE:
BBI, BBI.B), a global leader in entertainment, and TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ:
TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital
video recorders (DVRs), today announced they are joining forces to
deliver Blockbuster's vast library of premium digital movie titles
directly to the television set via TiVo® DVRs.
BLOCKBUSTER OnDemand, featuring content to both buy and rent, will be
integrated into TiVo Series2™, Series3™, TiVo HD, and TiVo HD XL DVRs.
The move by two leaders in home entertainment will make it even
easier for all broadband connected TiVo subscribers to download
Blockbuster's content and enjoy a complete television entertainment
experience on their individual schedules using TiVo, the best and most
comprehensive single solution for delivery and simple, intuitive
navigation of broadband, broadcast, and cable content – all from one
remote control.
TiVo DVRs will be sold at thousands of Blockbuster® stores nationwide
as well as online at blockbuster.com, giving both companies new
distribution outlets and putting TiVo DVRs and BLOCKBUSTER OnDemand
front and center of where video shopping takes place. Additionally,
the companies will implement a cross-marketing campaign.
"We are excited to be teaming with TiVo, the company that created the
DVR, to make Blockbuster's entertainment content readily available to
their millions of subscribers," said Jim Keyes, Blockbuster Chairman
and CEO. "Ultimately, our vision is to work with TiVo so that their
subscribers can access movies not only through our OnDemand service
but also from our stores and through our by-mail service as well.
Regardless of a film's availability – through VOD or on DVD – we want
to work with TiVo to provide their subscribers unprecedented access to
movie content."
"Joining with Blockbuster further distinguishes TiVo as a true
universal solution for content providers, making it a one stop shop
for any content thru broadband or linear distribution straight to the
TV," said Tom Rogers, President and CEO of TiVo Inc. "When consumers
walk into one of the thousands of Blockbuster stores entertainment for
the home is on their minds - - it could not be more natural to have
them exposed to the world of millions of entertainment possibilities
for the home that the TiVo Service provides."
The companies expect to have the BLOCKBUSTER OnDemand service
integrated into TiVo DVRs in the second half of 2009.
BLOCKBUSTER OnDemand offers one of the most extensive libraries of
digital entertainment product in the marketplace, with thousands of
titles from the hottest new movie releases to the classics. For more
information on BLOCKBUSTER OnDemand delivered via the TiVo service
visit www.tivo.com/blockbuster.
Meh. Netflix FTW.
$4 per MOVIE? In SD??
wtf are they thinking?
They're still thinking within their old brick and mortar model. Doesn't really work here.
They're still living in the past.
Between flat rate subscription services, deep discount rentals and bargain bin DVDs there's really no place left for Blockbuster anymore.
as a member of the blockbuster family, i can officially say, i have no fucking clue what they are doing...they change their policies everytime the fucking wind blows and its irritating,
I hope it's at least 16:9.. otherwise that's the point? That's why I never bought Pay-Per-View from my cable company, they want me to pay same as what I'm paying for DVD rentals, but it' crappy 4:3 size...
I see this as Blockbusters last stand. If they can make this work on TiVo, they can't make it work anywhere.
Too late. I already have netflix on my tivo and I'm not really interested in getting another paid service.
So TiVo will now have both Netflix *and* Blockbuster streaming? That's like restaurants serving both Pepsi *and* Coke. It's unheard of!
Plus Amazon downloads too!
LOL good one Scott :)
Blockbuster must die....
Long live Netflix.
Did Blockbuster not notice that there's this really big company called Amazon that already sells movies on Tivo? Sorry Blockbuster but you've got nothing. You've had nothing for a long time. You waited too long to fight Netflix and now the race is over. Go join Beta, Sega Dreamcast and all the other failed ventures over there....
It's a good move for BB, and the competition will keep prices down, which is good for us all.
You guys might think that commenting like that is fun, but you are crazy to want BB to fail and have Netflix exist with no competition.
You've got that exactly backwards. Blockbuster is the ugly monster that needs to be forced to respond to competitive pressure. They're what all of the other options are a reaction to. Netflix has plenty of people trying to get a piece of them.
@ hulse_kevin , you've got it backwards.
Blockbuster joining the streaming by subscription market on Tivo will force them to lower prices to compete with Netflix. Joining the PPV streaming market on Tivo will force them to lower prices to compete with Amazon Unbox.
it's a win/win for the consumer. having a single solution doesn't help anyone.
The idea of BB as the big monster is completely antiquated. they are not on top, or controlling the market.
Netflix is already acting like they don't have any competition. They just slapped a $4 fee for the privilege of renting blu-rays.
Well not everybody has Series 3/HD TiVos yet. I was very disappointed when Netflix was exclusive to S3/HD only...at least this is something Series 2 users can actually use.
I think its a good move even though I generally loathe paying rental fees for movies (I prefer unlimited packages). I think this might be a tad bit more user friendly than netflix; netflix requires you to build your queue on a computer whereas Blockbuster (at least using the 2wire box) allows you to pick a movie from your TV.
I guess this also means I won't be buying a 2wire box at all until someone develops a hack for it to run boxee/xbmc.
Blockbuster needs to include movie downloads in their Total Access service to make up for their really messing up in-store exchanges, the sole benefit of going with Blockbuster over Netflix. They waived late fees for in-store exchanges, but now they don't ship out the next movie in your queue until you return your in-store rentals.
totally off the streaming topic here.
redbox is kicking the living daylights outta blockbuster. why get a one day rental for $3.49? when you can get one day rentals at redbox for a BUCK! or free with codes.
I gave so much of my money to blockbuster, they never gave a crap. they would give us buy one get one free rental days on wednesdays. great, wednesday, when all the new releases have gone out! oh and to add insult to injury, they'd discontinue the buy one get one free promo on holidays, "due to high demand". what a joke.
eff em!
I have to say this is all getting a bit ridiculous. Tivo now has Netflix, Blockbuster, and Amazon. Roku has Netflix, Amazon, and will most likely shortly have Blockbuster.
My point here is that say you can't find the movie you want on Netflix. You are paying $9 for that subscription, but the movie isn't there. You find it on Amazon or Blockbuster and pay another $4 or $5 to rent it. Or vice versa, you can't find the movie you want on your Blockbuster or Amazon account so you have to sign up for Netflix.
The only winners here are Tivo and Roku. It is going to start getting costly for customers as they continually have to switch services to find the movie they want. Netflix has a wide range, but not the latest. Blockbuster has the latest, but not in the greatest quality. Amazon has a little of both and HD coming soon.
Lastly, this is why I don't understand why everyone champions the subscription model so much. Three different services with limited content, one subscription and two that are not. Seems it would be more cost effective to pay per view.
I bet the charge an over usage fee for pausing to long.
Anything with associated to the company "blockbuster" is a bad bet.
Sounds nice but I'd still short em!
I am sure Blockbuster will somehow figure out how to charge a late fee with their downloads.
$4 for SD? They be crazy.
I MUCH prefer this model of Blockbuster/Amazon/Netflix available on TiVo/Roku/etc.
It allows some competition on both ends, rather than exclusive partnerships and all the problems with that.
Pity AppleTV can't rent Blockbuster too... and why not have iTunes movies rentable on a TiVo?
I do think that a likely next step is a $10 "subscription" to something like the Showtime channel - where you pay the same amount as you pay on cableTV for a movie channel package, but instead of setting the PVR to record next Thursday night's 8:30 movie, you simply have a list of "available Showtime movies" to download (and the list switches and changes each week).
Netflix sucks. Blockbuster online is far superior in every way.