Virgin unveils TiVo platform
Virgin Media has formally announced the launch of Virgin Media TV powered by TiVo. The new service will bring together TV, on demand and web-based content alongside a personal video recorder.
The TiVo receiver contains a 10Mb cable broadband modem enabling Virgin to offer apps from BBC iPlayer,YouTube, eBay, Twitter and Facebook with more to be announced over the coming months.
Cindy Rose, executive director of digital entertainment at Virgin Media, said: "This is a landmark moment in the UK's digital revolution and vividly illustrates why Virgin Media is the only company who can provide the ultimate digital lifestyle. For the first time, viewers will have a truly personalised viewing experience so they can get the most out of the wonderful worlds of the internet and TV all in one place. We're really excited to bring our customers what is just the first of successive generations of transformational services based on this unique TiVo-powered platform."
Virgin's new platform features a backwards EPG, recommendations engine which will learn to predict the type of shows that a particular customer likes and a search function spanning films, music, TV shows and online content. The user will be able to create a 'WishList' search based on a particular show, theme, actor or director and all future content relevant to that will be automatically recorded. Viewers can rate shows through the TiVo remote control's 'thumbs up/thumbs down' buttons.
Virgin Media TV powered by TiVo will begin to roll-out from mid-December.
Image: Homescreen of Virgin's Connected TV service
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