TiVo ups the ante on video-to-go

This should set the hearts of ViPod owners all aflutter:

TiVo Monday announced a plan to let users of its popular digital video recorders download any TV show stored on their TiVo boxes onto iPods. The move, which TiVo is making without Apple Computer Inc.'s involvement, has the potential to greatly expand the selection of shows iPod users can watch on their devices beyond such fare as "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost," the two hit series from Disney's ABC network that Apple is selling for $1.99 an episode through its iTunes Music Store. TiVo's plan is rankling some TV executives as the networks seek to habituate users to pay to download shows, beyond what they may already pay for cable or satellite-TV service.

Shares of TiVo rose Monday on the news, up 5.7% to $5.57 in morning trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

TiVo plans to begin testing software that enables the video downloads to iPods within the next couple of weeks and to make it widely available to TiVo users in the first quarter of next year for a one-time fee, most likely between $15 and $30.

This development could do a lot more than disrupt the networks' plans to squeeze per-episode fees out of fans of "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives." It could upend the DVD component of their business, as well.

The networks and the studios that provide their programming are making a lot of money off of people who are willing to pay 50 bucks or so for an entire season of their favorite shows. For example, I have seasons 1-4 of Alias sitting on my shelf. I am not watching season 5 so that I can watch it at my leisure and without commercials on DVD next fall. Of course, I could buy a TiVo and do the same thing in May as soon as the season ends, but I am what is known as a late adopter of new technology. I wait until the bugs are worked out or until new consumer-friendly enhancements are made. The TiVo/iPod integration looks like just the sort of enhancement I have been waiting for. I suspect there are a lot of people like me.

The plan will, at the very least, increase TiVo's profile among people whose viewing habits lean toward the non-traditional, such as those who like the DVD sets. If they join all the other folks who have already discovered the joys of the personal video recorder, the networks could see a significant revenue stream dry up just as it is beginning to flow in earnest.