technoculture203-09

Tivo is finally coming to New Zealand!! However, the catch is that it will be sold through Telecom and only Telecom members will get the full benefits of this nifty device.
If you don’t know what Tivo is, it’s a nice piece of technology that will let you record two digital television channels whilst watching a third. Also, you will be able to download television shows or movies at the same time so the Tivo box will need to be connected to the internet for these functions as well as for viewing the 14 day electronic TV guide, downloading software updates and for the ability to program the machine to record shows over the internet. The machine will be compatible with Freeview HD so users will need a UHF aerial install to be able to use the device.

So what will this mean for everybody with DVD-recorders or for the people who have just splashed out big bucks for the recently released Freeview HD recorders? I believe that people will still be able to use their DVD-recorders, but they will not be able to enjoy the luxury of recording 2 channels at once and recording in high definition. For the people who have bought the Freeview HD recorders, it seems like they have just wasted a whole lot of cash since Tivo will be sold for a slightly cheaper cost.

One major problem with downloading movies or television shows over the internet in New Zealand is that it eats up all your broadband data. To make Tivo a success, the company has teamed up with Telecom so Tivo related downloads will not count towards Telecom users’ broadband data allowances. This is a plus for Telecom, because it most likely will persuade broadband users to switch to Telecom as their broadband provider.

Tivo will be sold in New Zealand for a one-off cost for $899 in November at Telecom outlets. There are no ongoing subscription fees.

I recently found this interesting article in the NZ herald about the increase and expansion of the digital TV platform, Freeview. The link to the article can be found here.
Anyways, what I discovered was that since Freeview’s NZ launch back in 2006, it is estimated that over 250,000 Freeview decoders have been sold in NZ, therefore reaching around 16 percent of the population.

The government originally said that they would switch off the analogue TV signals when digital TV reached 75% of households or by 2012, whichever comes soon. However, in this article it states that government is planning to switch off analogue TV signals by 2015.

Now I’m thinking, why would they push back the shut off date??? Is it because the adoption of digital TV wasn’t as rapid as they thought it would be? Or is it because the set-top boxes required to watch digital television are too pricey??

I believe that the true reason for lack of adoption is the added value of having the Freeview platform. As a Freeview HD user, I can confirm that the main added benefit of having Freeview HD is to watch channels 1, 2 and 3 in HD. HD (high definition) signals make no difference on the old crt TV’s, basically because they are not capable of displaying signal. So what Freeview should be doing is adding channels which have real value.

Freeview could really up its game if TVNZ or Mediaworks launched new channels with current and hit shows in the United States, that don’t already fit into the current weekly broadcast schedule.