RCN today announced the launch of its TiVo Premiere service to its subscribers in the Boston area.
The Boston rollout followed previous launches in Washington, D.C., and New York City. RCN competes against Verizon and Time Warner Cable in New York City, and against Verizon and Comcast in Washington, D.C., and Boston.
Earlier this month, Comcast launched its AnyRoom DVR service, but Comcast didn’t respond to an inquiry on whether it has been rolled out in its Boston footprint. While Comcast has a multi-room DVR service up and running, it doesn’t allow subscribers to pull Internet content into their homes.
Last year, RCN laid claim to being the first all-digital and broadband provider to have TiVo as its primary provider of DVRs.
By using TiVo, RCN subscribers can access content from the Internet, such as movies from Amazon’s VOD library or clips from YouTube, while also accessing RCN’s VOD library.
FrameChannel, TiVo Premiere’s latest application, blends the Web and television viewing experiences by bringing social media content – such as Facebook photos and status updates, local news, sports, stock quotes and weather – directly to the TV. TiVo Premiere can also access songs, photos and movies saved on a personal computer.
“RCN customers are savvy and understand how technology can change their lives,” said Richard Wadman, vice president and general manager of RCN Boston. “That is why they choose RCN as their telecommunications provider, and that is why we are excited to offer the TiVo Premiere’s one-of-a-kind HD experience that brings the Internet to the TV and further differentiates us from the competition.
“The initial launch of TiVo Premiere to RCN customers in Washington, D.C., and New York City has exceeded our expectations. RCN customers have been incredibly happy with the TiVo Premiere from RCN, making it an easy choice to quickly offer it in our Boston market.”
RCN said upcoming launches for TiVo Premiere include Chicago, Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. In Boston, it’s offered as part of a bundled package of digital TV and high-speed Internet services.
Premiere features include:
- Integrated search: Instantly scans across all programs – TV, video-on-demand and online content.
- Automatic recordings: Records a user’s favorite shows each week.
- Remote scheduling: Schedule recordings remotely from anywhere you have an Internet connection.
- TiVoToGo transfers: Allows subscribers to transfer shows from the TiVo DVR to a laptop or mobile device.
- Multi-room viewing: Lets a user record a show on one TiVo box and watch it on another in their home.
- Control live TV: Allows pause, rewind, slow-mo and instant replay functions from live TV.
- Content storage: Records up to 45 hours of high-definition programming or up to 400 hours of standard-definition.
- Full HD support: 1080p and 1080i HD formats are fully supported.
