Cox to Make VoD Content Available to TiVo Boxes

A deal between Cox Communications and TiVo will bring the cable operator’s VoD programming to some broadband-connected DVRs. A Cox digital TV customer who buys a TiVo Premiere box and broadband service from Cox will be able to access its VoD programming menus next year, the companies said Thursday. The service will be limited to customers who take both cable TV and broadband from Cox because requests from the TiVo box to the cable headend will be handled on the cable operator’s upstream Internet connection, Cox Vice President Steve Necessary said in an interview. When a customer makes a VoD request from a TiVo box, a signal will leave the box through the Ethernet port and travel through the cable modem up the Cox broadband path to equipment from SeaChange that will translate it for Cox’s VoD servers, he said.

The deal marks the end of Cox’s tests of TiVo software on third-party devices, Necessary said. A service tested in Connecticut and Rhode Island had been deployed to employees’ homes and at least one friendly customer, he said. “But by the time we had reached that point, time had marched on,” he said. “The application we were providing at that point was not nearly as attractive as TiVo’s current implementation.”

Cox also considered leasing TiVo boxes directly to subscribers but decided against it, Necessary said. Cox was reluctant to introduce a product like Premiere with so many features different from those of its other leased boxes, he said. Cox wanted to avoid the added complexity and responsibility of leasing the boxes, he said. For access to Cox VoD programming through a TiVo Premiere Box, customers will use a menu structure controlled by the cable company but with the look and feel of TiVo’s interface, Necessary said. A tuning adapter will still be required for TiVo customers who want programming that Cox offers using switched digital video, he said: “Rather than reinventing something that works just fine, we both chose to simply leverage that and continue to use tuning adapters."

Customers who buy new TiVo Premiere boxes after Cox introduces support for them will get a visit from a Cox technician to set up and install the boxes, Necessary said. Those who already own the box will have to contact Cox to turn it on, he said: “We don’t want to surprise anybody by having some capability just show up.”

Marketing services together could help Cox add broadband and digital video subscribers, Necessary said. “I think we'll see some lift and would hope to see it both in video … and high-speed Internet,” he said. Though there’s already a good amount of overlap between Cox’s digital cable and broadband subscribers, the potential for growth exists, he said. “Will it be dramatic? It’s clearly too early to tell, but we do expect to see some lift in both as a result of that.” The agreement represents a cost-effective way for cable operators to provide online video services to their subscribers, TiVo CEO Tom Rogers said.