Audio Video News

Internet TV service provider Brightcove and TiVo, have agreed to enable broadband video published through Brightcove to be distributed directly to TiVo subscribers' set-top boxes. The new agreement could help push Internet TV one step closer to being the end-all, be-all of digital entertainment. (Or, it could just be another highly hyped deal that sounds cool but doesn't really amount to much.)

Brightcove says they're an open Internet TV service that "empowers video producers and programmers to build broadband businesses while giving viewers more choices and control over their use of video and television." I'm normally suspicious of anything designed to "empower" me (or, especially, you), but this Brightcove idea does sound pretty darn neat. You - the little, under-funded guy - create incredible video content and distribute it through Brightcove's service. You not only win accolades and adulation from people who have nothing better to do than sit in front of their computers watching clever videos, but you also get a chance to earn some cash for all your hard work. (Brightcove handles all the transactional details.) Other sites can syndicate your content. Viewers get a near-infinite variety of stuff to watch.

The TiVo/Brightcove co-mingling will let TiVo subscribers access broadband video content via their TiVo or PC and sent it directly to their TiVo box for viewing at their leisure.

The broadband video content from Brightcove will only be available to TiVo Series 2 DVRs connected to the Internet.