TiVo, Rhapsody ink music deal

TiVo and RealNetworks have partnered together to allow TiVo subscribers to listen to songs and streaming radio from the Rhapsody digital music service on their televisions.

For TiVo, it's a way to differentiate itself from the growing competition from Cable/Satellite TV providers. For Rhapsody, it's yet another way to penetrate into people's homes.

Consumers using the service will be able to search for music directly on their TV, browse charts of Rhapsody's most popular artist or tunes, or listen to thousands of radio channels. The difference here is that TiVo customers are used to paying a subscription fee (although they will receive a free one-month trial of Rhapsody) - so there's less of a learning curve than with "traditional" consumers.

"The big thrust for us is to try to expand the pie, bring digital music to more consumers," Michael Bloom, Rhapsody's general manager, told Reuters. "CD sales have been in rapid decline. This is one of the ways that we are going to help in that regard."

The takeaway here is that TiVo will continue to look for ways to differentiate itself from competing DVRs, and the best way to do this is through content. Being service agnostic, TiVo is open to anything. And Sirius and XM, like all media companies, need to be heard everywhere. It's a natural fit.

[Reuters]