TiVo coming to Australia

2160 Views 16 Replies 8 Participants Last post by richsadams, Feb 2, 2008

stevel

Discussion Starter · Aug 9, 2007

According to this

The legal battle took an ironic turn last month when Free TV Australia, the industry body that represents commercial broadcasters, announced it had secured an agreement to make program guides available in electronic form to makers of personal video recorders.

The guide will be used to schedule recordings through the TiVo box, which Seven plans to sell in Australia early next year.

TiVo's functionality is similar to today's personal video recorders loaded with Ice TV's software, but ambiguous conditions laid down by Free TV Australia over the use of the program guide could greatly limit TiVo's potential.

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richsadams

· #2 · Aug 10, 2007

Interesting update. I suspect there will be a lot more back-and-forth before TiVo will actually be supported in the Land Down Under.

Here are some more TiVo/AU/NZ threads:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=353644

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=361794&highlight=Australia+and+tiVo

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=353640&highlight=new+zealand

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stevel

Discussion Starter · #3 · Aug 10, 2007

Ah, I searched Coffee House but not the UK forum, and didn't look for "Aussies".

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richsadams

· #4 · Aug 10, 2007

stevel said:
Ah, I searched Coffee House but not the UK forum, and didn't look for "Aussies".

No worries mate!

We actually lived in NZ for years and the locals have cobbled together a TiVo support group complete with downloadable guides, etc. You can only do it with S1's but hey, some TiVo is waaaaaay better than no TiVo.

They've done the same in AU so it won't be new to at least some people.

The real downside is the appalling bad television content.

FYI here are the links to TiVo groups in NZ and AU:

Australia (ozTiVo)

New Zealand (NZ TiVo)

Where there's a will...

See less See more

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wolflord11

· #5 · Aug 11, 2007

I grew up in NZ for 24 Years, and the TV was bad.

We had 3 Locals, TV 1, 2 and 3. Then got a Channel 4 not long before I moved. But there was never anything on......

Even when SKY Sat moved in, we had maybe 7 Channels. But you paid an arm and a leg for them... lol.

But glad NZ is becoming part of the Tivo Family finally.

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BlackBetty

· #6 · Jan 31, 2008

http://business.brisbanetimes.com.au/seven-primed-for-digital-assault/20080130-1p3q.html

TiVo coming to Austalia in 8 weeks!

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richsadams

· #7 · Jan 31, 2008

BlackBetty said:
http://business.brisbanetimes.com.au/seven-primed-for-digital-assault/20080130-1p3q.html

TiVo coming to Austalia in 8 weeks!

Ha, that's great! I can just see the TiVo boxes stacked next to the thermal paper fax machines and Sony VCR's in Dick Smith. "Whadya suppose that is mate?" "Dunno...haven't seen anything about it on SKY".

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RonDawg

· #8 · Jan 31, 2008

richsadams said:
The real downside is the appalling bad television content.

A very large percentage of which comes from the United States

Some of their home-grown content actually is pretty good.

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classicsat

· #9 · Jan 31, 2008

RonDawg said:
Some of their home-grown content actually is pretty good.

I remember in past years:

Some knock-off of The Mod Squad.

A Sci-Fi (G rated) miniseries about a contemporary girl (in the early 90s) coming across a time machine from a utopic year 3000 or so and it passenger, a girl around her age (middle teens), and going between 3000, a distopic 2500, and then 1994 or so, dealing with ne'er do wells from 2500, and zipping back and forth fixing things those ne'er do wells upset in other times.

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richsadams

· #10 · Jan 31, 2008

RonDawg said:
A very large percentage of which comes from the United States

Some of their home-grown content actually is pretty good.

The worst (read: cheap) of the worst American TV is right. Home grown...well, there's Rove and um...

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dstoffa

· #11 · Jan 31, 2008

richsadams said:
Interesting update. I suspect there will be a lot more back-and-forth before TiVo will actually be supported in the Land Down Under.

There are DVR's already available in Oz. I spent two months in Adelaide at the end of 2006, and mates I were working with had satellite or cable, I forget which, (FoxTel?), and they had DVR's fully loaded with shows... They were ex-Patriots, and had NFL Football and NHL Hockey all queued up, ready for viewing.

Tivo would not only NOT be the first in play, but they'd have to displace the existing DVR's. Not an easy task, imho.

Cheers!
-Doug

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ZeoTiVo

· #12 · Jan 31, 2008

dstoffa said:
Tivo would not only NOT be the first in play, but they'd have to displace the existing DVR's. Not an easy task, imho.

Cheers!
-Doug

the fuller quote from that article linked in the OP

TiVo's functionality is similar to today's personal video recorders loaded with Ice TV's software, but ambiguous conditions laid down by Free TV Australia over the use of the program guide could greatly limit TiVo's potential.

Julie Flynn, chief executive of Free TV Australia, said manufacturers who wish to use the new EPG must comply with "base-level requirements designed to protect copyright, protect the integrity of the program information and facilitate collection of ratings information".

this is what TiVo does already. So in Australia these may be new, limiting concerns but for TiVo it is just Business as usual save for whatever standards are actually used to protect copyright. I am sure all that has already been taken into account by TiVo and its Australia partner

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richsadams

· #13 · Jan 31, 2008

dstoffa said:
There are DVR's already available in Oz. I spent two months in Adelaide at the end of 2006, and mates I were working with had satellite or cable, I forget which, (FoxTel?), and they had DVR's fully loaded with shows... They were ex-Patriots, and had NFL Football and NHL Hockey all queued up, ready for viewing.

Tivo would not only NOT be the first in play, but they'd have to displace the existing DVR's. Not an easy task, imho.

Cheers!
-Doug

True, Series1's have been in use there for years (as I pointed out in my post back in August). While we were there SKY's DVR's cost about AU$600 up front...to rent.

Once things get sorted out I think TiVo will do well.

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RonDawg

· #14 · Feb 2, 2008

richsadams said:
Home grown...well, there's Rove and um...

Actually I enjoyed "McLeod's Daughters" and "Blue Heelers." The former aired on a few channels here in the US for a short while, the latter is no longer in production but I thought was a lot more interesting than your usual US cop show.

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BlackBetty

· #15 · Feb 2, 2008

is it true that the TiVo's being offered by Seven group will have the commercial skipping features removed? I've read that in an article recently, but I can't see that being true.

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richsadams

· #16 · Feb 2, 2008

RonDawg said:
Actually I enjoyed "McLeod's Daughters" and "Blue Heelers." The former aired on a few channels here in the US for a short while, the latter is no longer in production but I thought was a lot more interesting than your usual US cop show.

I do remember "MCLeod's Daughters" now that you mention it...well done. Outside of "Reno 911" I can't think of any good U.S. cop shows at the moment.

Kidding.

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richsadams

· #17 · Feb 2, 2008

BlackBetty said:
is it true that the TiVo's being offered by Seven group will have the commercial skipping features removed? I've read that in an article recently, but I can't see that being true.

That would kind of defeat the whole purpose...more or less anyway. Do you mean it wouldn't FF at all or just not have the 30 second skip hack? I could live w/o the 30SS, but if I had to sit through commercials...well then...never mind.

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