TiVo's Bolt DVR lets you skip TV ads with the touch of a button
Tivo is following in the footsteps of Dish Network's "Hopper."
TV broadcasters have had an uneasy relationship over the past several years with automatic ad-skipping technology. Back in 2012, the major US networks sued Dish Network over AutoHop, a DVR feature known as "The Hopper," that allowed viewers to black out commercial on shows they鈥檇 recorded earlier, and eventually undermined the feature through contract negotiations with Dish.聽
This past January, a US federal judge rejected Fox's claims that the Dish's Hopper violated聽copyrights. But the judge聽allowed Fox to pursue claims on whether Dish violated a contract governing distribution of Fox programming.聽CBS Corp. and Walt Disney Co.鈥檚 ABC settled similar litigation last year, allowing Dish to broadcast the networks鈥� programs, .
Now, TiVo is introducing a similar function in its Bolt DVR, launched on Wednesday.
The Tivo Bolt includes a 鈥淪kipMode鈥� feature that automatically jumps over commercial breaks with the press of a button. The feature will work on the top 20 broadcast and cable networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. TiVo automatically tags the start and end of commercial blocks, so viewers can skip over them all at once, rather than fast-forwarding in 30-second increments the way they could on previous TiVo devices.
There are a few restrictions on SkipMode: It doesn鈥檛 work on local news shows or sports broadcasts, TiVo says, and it鈥檚 only enabled between the hours of 4 p.m. and midnight. The feature also costs about $150 per year, though the first year comes for free with the DVR itself. SkipMode isn鈥檛 enabled by default, which is part of TiVo鈥檚 strategy to avoid raising the ire of broadcasters and advertisers.
鈥淲e're not changing the underlying content,鈥� TiVo Vice President Jim Denney . 鈥淲e're not auto-eliminating commercials. The user does it. We're giving users a tool to get through their content more quickly.鈥�
In other words: The Bolt DVR doesn鈥檛 take away any of the value of commercials; it simply provides viewers with an (optional) way to watch shows they way they want to. Advertisers would argue that part of the fundamental value of TV commercials comes from the fact that they鈥檙e shown to a captive audience. But then again, maybe skipping over ads is more or less the same as heading to the kitchen for a snack when a commercial break begins.
The TiVo Bolt also has a 鈥淨uickMode鈥� feature that speeds up recorded shows by 30 percent, without altering the pitch of the audio. By using QuickMode and skipping commercials, TiVo says, viewers can get through an hour-long show in about half an hour. It鈥檚 designed for 鈥渟low-moving programs like news, sports, and overly long award shows,鈥� TiVo said .
The Bolt can also pump out video in ultra-HD 4K resolution 鈥� a vanity feature for TV, since no American broadcasters use that format yet, but potentially useful for streaming services such as Netflix that offer 4K content.
that Tivo isn't yet "the one box that rules all of TV in my home." He writes:
"TiVo needs access to an ever-growing array of online content. It鈥檚 got Netflix and YouTube (in 4K) as well as Amazon (soon in 4K) but at launch the Bolt is missing Hulu, which had been available on previous models. TiVo says that鈥檚 just because it changed its software, and Hulu will come soon."
A TiVo Bolt with 500 GB of storage will cost just under $300, while one with 1 TB of storage will cost just under $400.
