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TiVo-Like Service Coming To Australia

Posted by timothy on from the escape-the-primetime-shackle dept.

rosy writes with good news for Australian television watchers: "CNET.com.au is reporting that a TiVo-like service will be available in November this year. Dubbed ICE ("Intelligent Content Engine") and developed by Peter Vogel, the technology will be built into set top boxes and personal video recorders to skip ads or lower the volume, view electronic program guides, etc. The article states that the service will cost $2-3 per week with the service launching initially in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong."

4 of 121 comments (clear)

  1. who wouldn't pay for no ads by BoFiS · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'd pay that just to have advertisements taken out of my daily TV...infact it's one of the main reasons I like the ReplayTV 4000-series, you can just have it skip the ads all-together.

    And for those of you who enjoy commercial breaks so you can run and get more chips or ice cream...remember, you can always just pause it!

  2. Re:Smarter than a TiVo... by rjch · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Of course, Austrailia has many fewer total over the air TV stations than the USA does thanks in part to its smaller geographic size, so this service is much more practical there than it is here.
    Spoken like someone who has no idea where Australia is or has the slightest idea how big it is.

    Australia is geographically the same size as the United States, even though it has 1/10th of the population. The fewer number of television stations (3 commercial, 2 government-owned and in some places 1 community) is driven in part by govenment regulation and in part by economics. A country of ~20 million people cannot support the same number of commercial stations as a country of ~200 million.

    Pay TV only arrived in Australia 7 years ago and has only been accessible to most for the past 3-4 years. The ratings for Pay TV are pretty poor, since the commercial free-to-air stations have first pick at a lot of things - sport in particular - to protect people from "having" to pay for TV.

  3. Re:Smarter than a TiVo... by sholden · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Australia is geographically the same size as the United States

    Most people know that: 7617930 != 9161923

    and hence they aren't "the same size". Over 80% of the size, yes. Almost the same size, yes. But not just "the same size".

    A country of ~20 million people cannot support the same number of commercial stations as a country of ~200 million

    That's true, it remains true even though the US population is ~300 million (290 million+ makes ~200 million a bit off).

    [we now return to your less pedantic programming]

  4. Re:Smarter than a TiVo... by NoMaster · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Hey, I'd be happy if the TV stations transmitted a real program guide in their digital streams - not just shitty "NOW / NEXT" data, or sometimes an even shittier separate "Program Guide" video channel.

    Hell, I'd be happy enough if the NOW / NEXT info was accurate. Though the info from the ABC, at least here in Brisbane, is within a second or two - when it's working, that is...

    Note for Americans : Australia, in the capital cities, has 5 FTA stations:
    • the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) - government-owned, considered to be left-leaning regardless of whoever is in power, but probably more central than left. Programming consists of everything from mainly British shows to innovative local productions - which usually never achieve popularity until they are head-hunted / ripped off and mangled by one of the 3 commercial stations. Ad-less (well, internal ads only, between programs)
    • SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) - known as "Sex Before Sleep" by people who think the word "knickers" is rude and funny. Nominally a "multicultural" station (in the best sense of the word), plays everything from PBS news and documentaries, through comedy (South Park, Daily Show, etc), anime, non-mainstream sport (soccer, Tour de France, etc), to "European" movies ;-) Semi-commercial - government sponsored, but with commercial advertising between programs.
    • 7, 9, & 10 - the 3 commercial channels. One's tied up with AOL, another's tied up with Microsoft / MSN, and the other one has no money so runs "The Simpsons" on a mobius loop interspersed with "Big Brother", "Australian Idol", and even less-successful local reality TV. All run as many programs as they can fit in between the ads...

    Thankfully, we don't really have a Fox, though Ch9 comes close - without the soaring eagle and giant phallic missile graphics...
    --
    What part of "a well regulated militia" do you not understand?