Blockbuster OnDemand lands on TiVo

Broadband-connected TiVo DVR subscribers have access to Blockbuster's long-awaited OnDemand rental service, TiVo announced on Tuesday.

The service is available to owners of TiVo Series2 and TiVo Series3 digital-video recorders (including the TiVo HD and TiVo HD XL).

According to the company, users will be able to stream films ranging from new releases to classics. Users will be charged $2.99 for classic hits and $3.99 for new releases. Blockbuster will be adding more films over the coming weeks, including "select HD titles."

As part of the agreement, Blockbuster will also begin selling TiVo DVRs in "thousands" of participating Blockbuster stores around the United States.

Blockbuster OnDemand's arrival on the TiVo (and TiVo's arrival in Blockbuster stores, for that matter) has been a long time coming. The partnership was first announced in March.

Whether Blockbuster will enjoy success on the TiVo is up for debate. The company's main competitor, Netflix, is already streaming films and television shows to TiVos for no additional fee beyond the company's unlimited-plan charges. Amazon Video On Demand is also available to TiVo users, and like Blockbuster, it, too, allows them to purchase individual videos, rather than pay a monthly subscription fee.

TiVo owners can also access content from YouTube, as well as films through Jaman and CinemaNow's Disney.

To access Blockbuster OnDemand, users will first need to create a Blockbuster account. Once complete, they can access Blockbuster OnDemand content from the TiVo's video-on-demand menu.

[censorshipblows]

Who uses Tivo anymore?

[CraigC2000]

Tivo HD is a no brainer if you are renting an HD DVR from cable or FIOS.

Instead of paying the $20 per month rental fee for the HD DVR, you can get a Tivo HD with lifetime service, then add whatever size hard drive you want to and pay only $3.99 per month to rent the cable card instead.

The savings of $16 per month will pay the Tivo off entirely in 3 years, and then you have a box that can always be upgraded or sold for a large percentage of what you paid for it.

Even if you don't subscribe to pay TV, the Tivo is still great for recording OTA HD channels, streaming Netflix or using something like Vuze to transcode all other videos for Tivo.

[censorshipblows]

I once had Tivo and now I use the DirecTV HD DVR.....works just as well.

[bimmin]

I do

[sabre3901]

"Who uses Tivo anymore?"

What are you a fool? Tivo has been and always will be the best dvr service available. I've been a loyal customer to Tivo for 3 years and would not watch tv without it. If you're a dish dvr user or one of the many cable dvr users you are seriously missing out. Do not believe the crap those company's will tell you about Tivo not being compatible. I use mine with Comcast cable with no problems.

[fcz1]

I got TiVo a few years ago when they still offered lifetime membership. Therefore I still use it. Granted, it is a Series 2, non HD set, but I have HD through my cable company. So free TiVo beats the hell out of no TiVo.

[Rod Roddy]

Who uses Tivo anymore? A who's who of who cares.

[mtelnes]

What about Blockbuster customer who currently have Blockbuster Online memberships? Do they reap any benefits from this marriage? Thanks!

[JeffDS3]

My family and I use 5 TiVos thank you very much. No crappy cable company boxes or hacked together HTPCs.

[CraigC2000]

Exactly. A HTPC is ridiculously cumbersome in the living room. Until something comes along that can replace my original XBOX with XBMC, using Tivo and XBMC is the best combo for watching all media in the living room, although I expect that within the year some of the new $99 boxes that can decode 1080p will finally replace my old XBOX, there is still nothing yet to replace the Tivo HDs.

[murph0613]

Seriously? Who uses TiVo? Either you have your head in the ground, or you're actually satisfied with the abysmal performance of most cable-supplied Scientific Atlanta units that barely function as actual DVR's. The HD TiVo, coupled with your cable company's dual stream cablecard, is the only way to go. Millions of discerning TV users have already discovered this. (If only they would get into the Satellite world, it would be perfect.)

As to their success with Blockbuster Online, I just can't see it doing all that well, with Amazon and Netflix online, who have 2 differing payment models that cover both scenarios, pay-per-view and unlimited view with subscription. Nevertheless, I will check out BlockBuster to see if they have some of the rare films that I can't find on Netflix. I doubt it, tho.

[sswillow]

I have a very faithful Tivo Series 2 which doesn't work with the OnDemand Netflix, so this is good news for me!

[Zoboflobby]

I don't get the Blockbuster business model, I already pay them monthly let me watch my movies on the Tivo for FREE!

[JeffDS3]

I say they should offer both. If you have a Blockbuster by mail account then you get unlimited streaming and if you don't then you can do pay per movie so you can get both markets.

[joesal9]

I've been a TiVo subscriber for about 6 years and have always embraced the addition of various services on the TiVo box. I won't pay for a monthly subscription so Blockbuster and Amazon are perfect for me. Whether there is different content is yet to be seen (I'll use Amazon first), but being able to download movies and/or TV shows directly to my TiVo an excellent service.

[Shreader2]

There are 100,000's of movies out there that are not available for download or streaming thru exisiting services. I'ts annoying when I can't find the movie I want online. Thank's Blockbuster and Tivo for hooking up. Blockbuster has access to more content from Hollywood.

[wangbang]

I agree, this is the most frustrating thing about Amazon (although I think it's because they are hamstrung my licensing agreements with media companies). I would think Blockbuster wouldn't have that problem.

[tmeesseman]

I use a TiVo HD... it's a no brainer! I don't have cable, so receiving HD OTA and being able to record it all is spectacular! With limited channels, there are many time where "nothing is on". This allows me to record a lot of stuff during the day and at night while I'm sleeping, and OTA is more than enough for me in this manner.

[tyshockner]

Wow let me put this to the test:

Netflix - $20 a month (2 movies in mail + unlimited streaming)

Blockbuster - $20 a month (2 movies in mail + pay-per streaming) << who would do this???

[tootal2]

You are wrong on demand account cost .00 a month you just have to pay for the movies when you download them.

[friscoG]

I use the supplied box from Direrct TV and for what I need it to do, it seems to do well. It records up to 2 shows at a time, series, etc. What else are we missing out on by going Tivo?

[TimAPhillips]

The "Tivo" sounds.

[JeffDS3]

Multiroom transfer, TiVo to go, TiVo to Go back, video download services like NetFlix, BlockBuster on Demand, Amazon, YouTube, video podcast, etc.

[nichts925]

I think it's rather convenient that whenever someone talks highly of Netflix's streaming videos they fail to mention that there are relatively few popular recent films available to watch instantly.

[tcr071]

Still plenty of good stuff to watch instantly on there and the new stuff comes in the mail. Watch entire seasons of mythbusters, The Office, Southpark, older movies, and some movies that came out last summer. I just watched Hancock last night streamed instantly through my Xbox 360. The streaming selection isn't incredibly amazing but when you combine it with the DVD's in the mail the service is great.