By Patrick Avenell
Hybrid Television Services, the local distributor of TiVo has announced three new initiatives to drive sales of the polarising unit, which has been described variously as a PVR, DVR, set-top box and media device.
At a press conference yesterday at Sydney George Street cinema complex, Hybrid TV CEO Robbee Minicola announced that from early 2009, TiVo customers will be able to order pizzas with their remote control, listen to internet radio on their TV and gain access to a number of new games and service packs.
In order to facilitate the pizza and radio offerings, Hybrid TV has entered into agreements with Dominos Pizza and DMG Radio. The games on offer are low intensity, more skewed to tests mental alacrity than a graphical or high impact experience.
Under the new agreement with Dominos Pizza, customers will be able to use their TiVo remote to access a Dominos site, where they can enter their order and details to await delivery. Minicola was very enthusiastic about the prospect of combining television and pizza under one banner.
When asked if it were irresponsible to encourage families so lounge around watching TV while eating fast food, Dominos CEO Don Meij responded by saying that Dominos does not advertise to kids, nor do they provide any kids-targeted meals.
Under the agreement with DMG, TiVo will be able to stream live radio from the Nova and Vega channels through the television. This deal is the first step in raising TiVo’s heretofore non-existent music offering. Their primary competitor, Foxtel, currently offers six dedicated music video channels and a multi-channel, ad-free digital radio service.
The new games and services package includes weather, horoscopes, world clock and an image-viewing service called PixelEyes. New games include Classy Couples, Sudoku and Wild Pairs.