TiVo, Now Playing Internet Videos

Tivo customers can already access content from The New York Times, CNET, and Rocketboom via their shiny PVR boxes, but on Tuesday, the company announced it is expanding its web video lineup.  CBS Interactive, Reuters Group, and Forbes will be making new content available for streaming straight to the living room television thanks to a new content deal.

Of course it doesn’t stop there. Tivo also announced a new service that would allow any Tivo subscriber to send their home movies to other friends and family who just so happen to have Tivo as well, creating a peer-to-peer based private channel that anyone with right permissions can subscribe to via a season pass. This certainly beats burning and mailing a DVD just to show Aunt Ruthie how the kids are doing.

I think Tivo is going down the right path by making it easy for the non-technical person to receive Internet content from friends and media companies without having to get near a computer. In order to post content, one needs to upload the video to One True Media, but accessing it is as simple as a few button clicks on the Tivo remote. And this will open up a new avenue for content creators who are looking to reach a new audience in search of entertainment from the comfort of the couch instead of the computer chair.