(3 July 2008 4:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Tivo which creates digital video recorders, is launching in Australia. It has tied up with Seven Media Group, an Australian integrated media company, for this purpose.

Under a mutually exclusive agreement, Seven has created the digital platform to enable Tivo’s digital video recorder and service, including the Tivo user interface.

All free-to-air television networks’ digital channels in Australia will be available on TiVo® DVRs.

The Tivo service will be available across Australia and will include TiVo features, including Season Pass recordings and WishList searches and allow users to access broadband content on their televisions.

Through its partnership with Tivo, Seven is deploying Tivo’s interactive advertising capabilities that will lead to new integrated interactive advertising strategies.

Seven Media Group CEO David Leckie says, “TiVo’s arrival in Australia further strengthens free-to-air television in Australia. Over more than five decades, free-to-air television continues to define the media landscape.

“Our future focuses on creating and delivering programming across multiple channels on digital free-to-air television, of dramatically expanding the television experience for the 7 out of 10 Australians who only watch free-to-air television. And it’s about us meeting new consumer demands for more control, more services and more involvement in the television experience.

“Tivo will play a key role in the future of free-to-air television in Australia: an industry committed to reflecting the lives of Australians, creating and producing programs that Australians want to watch and introducing the technology and the broader multi-channel platform that will redefine television in this country.”

Tivo CEO Tom Rogers says, “We are excited to be partnering with the Seven Media Group to bring Australian television viewers all the benefits that TiVo has to offer.

“Tivo has transformed the television viewing experience for consumers giving them an unprecedented level of control over the programming they watch, and when they watch it and it does so in an incredibly easy to use and simple way. It also provides endless entertainment options beyond cable and satellite.

“By working with Seven, one of the foremost media companies in Australia and the world, we have a strong partner that understands that the future of television technology lies at the intersection between broadcast and broadband.
Together, we expect to generate the same success in Australia that we did in the US and establish a platform which will extend our opportunities to grow in other parts of the world.”