TiVo’s Advanced Content Feature

In the second half of May 2002, there was consternation in various newsgroups on the internetand in the press about a newly-unannounced feature which caused many a TiVo toautomatically record “Dossa and Joe” as a must-see programme like a normal suggestion, butwhere viewers cannot delete it for several days.

Personally, since the programme is held within a section of the hard drivereserved for system use and not regular user programmes I think it has beenblown out of proportion, although it has led some people in newsgroups such asuk.media.tv.sky think it’ll lead to more draconian prospects such asenforced adverts like Sky+ has hinted at before now.

Andrew Cresci, Vice President for TiVo Europe explains:

“In conjunction with the BBC, TiVo is currently trialling an innovative, enhancedcontent feature which enables broadcasters to deliver new or exclusive contentto TiVo subscribers in the UK. TiVo subscribers are given the opportunity towatch additional programmes they may have missed, without impacting anyrecordings they have previously scheduled.

The new content is recorded into TiVo’s reserved service area, rather thanwithin the user’s own storage space, and will automatically be deleted afterfour days. The feature is set to a lower priority than programmes that usershave requested to be recorded, so any Season Pass, Wish List or individual programmeselected for recording will always take priority.

We are very sorry for any upset caused by the recent recording of the BBC’s’Dossa and Joe’ and will be closely monitoring the customer reaction. In addition,we are in discussion with the BBC regarding some of the issues that have beenhighlighted in the press, such as the choice of programme and duration it isavailable to view. TiVo is the leader and creator of the digital video recorderand as such is constantly striving to create new and innovative ways toprovide our subscribers with the highest quality entertainment.”