TiVo has gained premium app HBO Go and kids’ programming VOD service Toon Goggles, the company announced on Wednesday.
The popular HBO Go will be available on certain MSO-supplied TiVo boxes, but it is uncertain whether it might also be offered to TiVo’s other United States MVPD partners, such as GCI, RCN, Grand Communications, Suddenlink Communications, Mediacom Communications, and others.
Both apps will be available through TiVo Central on a TiVo box. HBO Go offers behind-the-scenes video and bonus features as well as HBO shows, and requires an HBO subscription and a MVPD service that authenticates on their platform.
In addition to adding these two apps, TiVo is also building out its SkipMode feature. The feature, which lets users skip commercial breaks, was rolled out to the Roamio family of retail products starting on Thursday.
TiVo is hoping to appeal to customers of all ages with this rollout, including those with children. It’s part of their push for “TV Everywhere:” 53 percent of households with a pay TV subscription have a service that allows them to view television content on a PV or mobile device. In the past HBO has pushed for greater customer awareness of the “TV Everywhere” campaign, which was a response to the increased popularity of services like Netflix. In order to compete, services like TiVo are working on providing both a greater variety of content and more usability across devices. In particular, Roamio uses as a selling points its ability to “fling” shows between mobile devices and a TV.
(Via Multichannel.)