Although DVR pioneer TiVo announced its plans way back in March, the company is finally ready to roll out support for viewing YouTube video using its Internet-connected set-top DVRs. Although the company has partnerships with dozens of Internet services that provide content for TiVo viewers, the YouTube move marks TiVo’s first foray into direct streaming of online video.
“With YouTube content now available on TiVo, on top of all the movies, music videos, songs and TV shows that are simply unavailable on cable and satellite, TiVo subscribers have more choice on their TV sets than any other TV viewers in the world,” said TiVO CEO Tom Rogers, in a statement.
YouTube streaming capability is being offered for TiVo’s Series3 and TiVo HD DVRs, and users will be able to watch YouTube videos directly on their televisions, as well as search and browse YouTube’s video library. TiVo users will also be able to log into their YouTube accounts to tap into their own custom video channels and playlists. However, users won’t be able to store YouTube clips to their local TiVo devices.
The YouTube capability should appear in Series3 and TiVo HD users regular updates over the course of the next few weeks; there will be no added charge for the feature.
