RCN Rolls Out Co-Branded TiVo Premiere DVR's in Boston

Triple-play provider, RCN, said Tuesday that it has launched its "TiVo Premiere from RCN" DVR/hybrid-TV platform and service in Boston as part of a bundled package of digital TV and high-speed Internet services. The offering--which was previously rolled out in Washington, DC and New York City, and which RCN says will next be launched in Chicago, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley--is the result of an agreement between RCN and TiVo that was announced last August (see the article published on itvt.com, August 5th) and that designated TiVo as RCN's "primary" DVR platform.

RCN bills itself as the first all-digital TV and broadband provider to have TiVo as its primary provider of DVR's (note: last week, TiVo announced a similar deal with cable operator, Suddenlink--see the article published on itvt.com, July 11th). According to the company, the TiVo Premiere from RCN, which it bills as allowing its customers to "combine their digital TV, movies, Web and music all into one box," is "uniquely configured" for those customers. "RCN customers are savvy and understand how technology can change their lives," Richard Wadman, VP and general manager of RCN Boston, said in a prepared statement. "That is why they choose RCN as their telecommunications provider, and that is why we are excited to offer the TiVo Premiere's one-of-a-kind HD experience that brings the Internet to the TV and further differentiates us from the competition. The initial launch of TiVo Premiere to RCN customers in Washington, DC and New York City has exceeded our expectations. RCN customers have been incredibly happy with the TiVo Premiere from RCN, making it an easy choice to quickly offer it in our Boston market."

Key features of TiVo Premiere from RCN, according to the companies, include:

• The ability to access thousands of hours of VOD from RCN, as well as a range of broadband content services, such as Amazon VOD, YouTube and Rhapsody.
• Integrated search functionality that scans across linear TV, VOD and online content.
• A FrameChannel app (see the article published on itvt.com, June 25th) which brings social media content, such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr updates, and local news, sports, stock quotes and weather, to the TV.
• The ability for users to access on their TV personal media files from their PC.
• The ability for users to automatically record their favorite shows (without re-runs) each week via TiVo's Season Pass feature.
• TiVo's WishList feature, which is designed to find and record programs based on the user's interests.
• Remote scheduling from m.tivo.com.
• TiVo's TiVoToGo feature, which allows users to transfer recordings from their DVR to a laptop or smartphone.
• Multi-room viewing of recorded content.
• The ability to control live TV with pause, rewind, slow motion and instant replay functions.
• Up to 45 hours of HD storage and up to 400 hours of SD storage.
• Full (1080p and 1080i) support for HD formats.