TiVo Inc. unveiled a comprehensive broadband strategy designed to bridge the web and television to allow even more viewing choices, taking the concept that "It's not TV unless it's on the TV" to a whole new level. TiVo's new features now allow consumers to select their own content and bring it from the Internet to their TV, where they can enjoy it from the comfort of their living room.

The new service feature will be implemented by the end of this year through an upgrade to the TiVo Desktop software. Current customers will not be charged any other monthly fees for the service or the software upgrade but new users will pay $24.95 for the software.

TiVo released five major announcements which demonstrate how TiVo will allow consumers to get broadband delivered video right to their TV set and include it as part of a simple and easy viewing experience. TiVo, the creator of and leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), is the first and only DVR to offer this kind of access to broadband video on the television set.

"For more than 10 years, people have talked about the TV and Internet coming together," said Tom Rogers, President and CEO of TiVo. "The dramatic expansion of video options is being driven by the amount of video now available via the power of broadband distribution. Not a day goes by without an announcement about some studio, network, programmer, or Internet company providing yet even more video content online. TiVo provides the only approach that brings it all, broadcast, cable, broadband, together into a seamless experience for the viewer. TiVo is the first to provide one holistic viewing experience where you'll be able to find what you want, when you want it, no matter where it comes from. These announcements further underscore 'It's not TiVo unless it's a TiVo.'"

Highlights from TiVo's broadband strategy announcements include the following:

• Unified Search -- TiVo unveiled "unified search," launching next year, whereby consumers can search across broadcast, cable and broadband content sources through an approach that seamlessly integrates all video for easy access, menuing, searching, recording, and viewing. Consumers want content from many different sources and with unified search they won't need to visit multiple devices to view that content - it can all be easily accessed in one place from the TiVo "Now Playing" list.
• ICM - With broadband video choices, the number of TV options available became overwhelming, and celebrity talent became critical "key words" for viewers finding what they want. TiVo and ICM have teamed up to provide TiVo subscribers with TV show and film recommendations personally selected by some of the most well-known Hollywood actors and directors. These celebrity Guru Guides will offer subscribers the ability to have this content automatically recorded on their TiVo boxes. This demonstrates how TiVo continues to weave itself into the true fabric of the media industry, now providing a means by which entertainment talent can establish a direct relationship with TiVo viewers on their TV sets.
• Home Movies Service -- Working in partnership with One True Media, TiVo is offering a breakthrough new service feature which will provide friends and families scattered across the country with an easy way to share their home videos, by sending them directly to the television set. Rather than burning and mailing DVDs, friends and family will now be able to set-up their own private channel to send home videos directly to a TiVo subscriber's TV set.
• Autotranscode -- TiVo subscribers who upgrade to this new PC software will be able to easily browse, transfer, and watch a vast amount of Web video, right on their TV sets, using the Emmy Award-winning TiVo service, even if the content is not originally in a format that televisions can display, by autotranscoding that video through their PCs.
• New TiVoCast Service Programming Partners -- A fresh group of media companies, including CBS Interactive, Forbes and specialized health content, will deliver broadband programming directly to the television through TiVo's revolutionary TiVoCast service. Launched earlier this year, the TiVoCast service delivers broadband video directly to the television sets of TiVo subscribers, turning Web video into television by bringing powerful broadband content previously available only on the PC.

TiVo boxes are now available for free after mail-in rebate and service commitment at leading consumer electronic retailers including Best Buy, Circuit City and Radio Shack. See www.tivo.com for details.