http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB113134634029589862.html
By KEVIN J. DELANEY and NICK WINGFIELD Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL November 7, 2005 8:33 a.m. Yahoo Inc. and TiVo Inc. reached an agreement to let users remotely program their TiVo digital video recorders from within Yahoo's Web site. Down the line, TiVo users will be able to access traffic and weather information and their photos stored on Yahoo from the devices, under the agreement between the companies. The deal between Yahoo and TiVo doesn't include provisions for TiVo users to view any video from Yahoo's Web site through the devices, according to a Yahoo spokeswoman. TiVo users can already remotely program their DVRs from the Web to record television shows. RELATED ARTICLES Yahoo, Google to Launch Services for Advanced Cellphone Networks1 Yahoo to Buy Up Stakes in Local Portals in U.K., Germany, France, Korea2 News of the Yahoo-TiVo agreement was first reported on the Web site of the New York Times. Under a partnership announced Monday, users of Yahoo's TV page starting today will be able to click on a record-to-TiVo button directly from a television program listing to remotely schedule recordings. And in the coming months, possibly before the end of the year, Yahoo's traffic and weather content, as well as its users' photos, will be viewable on televisions via TiVo's broadband service and screen menu. Edward Lichty, TiVo's vice president of corporate strategy, said TiVo hopes the collaboration will set the foundation for a long-term relationship. The deal will give the DVR pioneer a way to potentially tap Yahoo's large user base and gain some much-needed new customers. The Alviso, Calif.-based company has about 3.6 million subscribers but it accrued fewer new customers in the latest quarter than it did a year earlier, according to the company's financial report released in August. And though the company posted its first profit in its eight-year history during that quarter, some analysts question whether TiVo can continue to grow as satellite and cable companies develop their own DVR technologies that offer lower subscription fees. The ability to let its subscribers access Yahoo's content from their televisions marks a significant development in the company's year- old campaign to expand beyond basic digital video recording services to becoming more of an entertainment hub, Mr. Lichty said. Bringing Internet access to the TV screen is nothing new. Most previous efforts notably WebTV were failures. Mr. Lichty thinks the Yahoo-TiVo offering will be different. "It's not about having a Web browser on your TV and having a keyboard on your lap. It'll still be focused on the TV experience and navigating with the remote control," Mr. Lichty said. "And this builds on existing use patterns. It doesn't require people to relearn anything." Meanwhile, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo is seeing tremendous growth as more people turn to the Internet for news, entertainment, communication, and other services. But the Internet giant is also under constant pressure from rivals Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to expand its offerings. Time Warner Inc., Comcast Corp. and other cable and satellite companies, after years of delays, are now aggressively marketing DVRs to customers. At the end of last quarter, there were about 8.3 million subscribers to DVR services in the U.S., according to Magna Global, a media research firm owned by Interpublic Group of Cos. About 85% of those users got their DVRs through cable and satellite companies, with the rest getting them as "standalone" DVRs from companies like TiVo, Magna estimates. About 64% of TiVo's subscribers came to TiVo through a partnership with DirecTV Group Inc., the leading satellite-television provider, which TiVo has leaned on increasingly for its growth. DirecTV, though, has said it will soon stop marketing TiVo's service to its customers as it transitions to a DVR technology and service of its own making. The disintegrating relationship between TiVo and DirecTV has jolted TiVo investors, and led many executives to speculate whether TiVo can survive as an independent company. Meanwhile, Yahoo plans to soon unveil new wireless services that take advantage of advanced networks and cellphones to provide features similar to those available on computers. Yahoo soon will introduce a cellphone that it will sell through a partnership with SBC Communications Inc., according to SBC executives. The handset will take another step toward linking wirelessly such cellphone services as music, photos and email with consumers' existing Yahoo accounts, address books and preferences. Yahoo's cellphone plans come as Google is tailoring some popular Internet services for use on wireless devices. Starting today, for example, consumers using some types of cellphones will be able to access satellite maps wirelessly and scroll through them as they can on the Google Maps service. The moves mark a further step in the evolution of cellphones from communications devices to minicomputers that can be used for email, Web browsing, music downloading and even watching TV, in addition to calls. (See related article3.) ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/eCTplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tivocentral/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
