SYDNEY: Australian television network Seven has teamed with US personal video recorder pioneer TiVo to offer the platform to viewers next year.
TiVo, which allows users to time-shift programs and skip advertisements via a set-top box for a monthly fee, will rival Foxtel's iQ service - already in 200,000 Australian homes.
The new alliance has downplayed the impact of the technology's ad-skipping capabilities to concentrate on the benefits of its interactivity and functionality. It claims that TiVo users watch up to 25% more TV.
Seven's director of digital media Rohan Lund hyped: "We think the interactivity presents [an] exciting upside as we'll have the capability to communicate directly with the audience.
"It's something we are embracing and it's one thing to think about in terms of higher viewership of free TV in homes with these services."
Data sourced from Sydney Morning Herald; additional content by WARC staff
