TiVo Pairs With Netflix to Stream Content

Written on Oct 30, 2008 by Brian and filed under News

TiVo and Netflix have announced that they are teaming up to provide Netflix and TiVo Series3, TiVo HD, and TiVo HD XL (not DirecTV TiVo) subscribers with the ability to have movies and TV episodes instantly streamed from Netflix directly to their TVs. The streaming starts now for select Beta users and will be available to everyone in December.

This is another of several recent announcements from Netflix that lets users stream Netflix content to their televisions. Netflix started with online streaming of select movies and TV shows, but has since made tremendous progress in getting that content out to other devices like Samsung’s Blu-ray players. The TiVo deal means anyone with an active TiVo account and Netflix subscription can enjoy this same content with no additional fees.

Integrating the Netflix streaming functionality into the TiVo experience will result in quick and easy access to a growing list of movies and TV episodes that can be watched instantly at Netflix. Movies streamed from Netflix via specified TiVo DVRs is done through a wired or wireless broadband connection and a Netflix Queue-based user interface. Members visit the Netflix Web site to add movies and TV episodes to their individual instant Queues. Those choices will automatically be displayed on subscribers’ TVs and available to watch instantly through the TiVo service. With the TiVo remote control, users will be able to browse their instant Queue, make selections right on the TV screen, and also have the ability to read synopses and rate movies. In addition, they will have the option of pausing, fast-forwarding, rewinding and re-starting whenever they wish.