Coping with TiVo: Opportunities of the networked digital video recorder

Despite the progressive switch to digital TV, there has not been any significant change to the value chain of the TV industry. At the same time, the introduction of novel information and communication technologies, such as the digital video recorder (DVR) and efficient Peer-to-Peer (P2P) content distribution, have been regarded as a threat to the established broadcast business players. Previous research has described these threats and has suggested competitive strategies, but it has not investigated the opportunities. This work aims to identify a framework of new business models that take advantage of the networked DVR. For this purpose, we examined the TV literature from diverse academic disciplines, such as mass communication, computer engineering and advertising research. We have also collaborated with network and multimedia engineers, with broadcasters, and we examined novel interactive television (ITV) prototypes. The findings suggest that the networked DVR could be exploited to provide personalized channels and that the dynamic advertising insertion could be introduced as an effective advertising format. In the light of these findings, the TV industry should consider the pro-active adoption and facilitation of the networked DVR infrastructure.