TiVo to bring critics to the living room (NYT, THB)

By Nancy Tartaglione-Vialatte

TiVo is expected to announce a partnership with The Chicago Tribune that will deliver the recommendations of Maureen Ryan, the paper�s TV critic, straight to the TVs of users who sign up for the service, reports The New York Times.

The deal, to be announced today - the same day as TiVo reports first-quarter earnings - is the latest in a series of service enhancements. Brian Coyne, an analyst for Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Company, told the NYT the Tribune partnership was �another expansion of TiVo�s feature set.�

In March the company introduced downloads from YouTube and other Internet video.

The recommendation service will be available only to the roughly 100,000 TiVo subscribers in the region surrounding Chicago. But Thomas S. Rogers, chief executive of TiVo, told the Times that TiVo was in talks about similar partnerships with other print media outlets.

The service, if extended to other markets, could create new relevance for local critics, who�ve been hit hard in recent years as papers cut expenses.

Weighing in on the deal, MCN�s The Hot Blog noted, �What struck me immediately was... how much would someone pay to have Roger Ebert�s 15 or 20 or 30 movie picks a month automatically downloaded to their DVR? But really, regardless of payment, what a great way, using delivery services you already pay for, to get a direct experience based on the taste of tastemakers in whom you really believe!