My last few posts have been a unusually technical considering what I have been posting on these blogs before... My passion for DVRs though started first at bschool where TiVO was popular case study in marketing. TiVo is an interesting example of a product that caught on so well with its adopters that they literally refused to part with it, once they started using it, but still a product that struggled to find mass appeal. It was not a product that was adopted by the technically oriented. Even its early customers included those without a technical background. Tivo in fact has always done an excellent job with its user interface, so that the complexities of a DVR are presented in a simple and easy to understand manner. Even the remote control and the interaction model were way ahead of their time and pretty much set the benchmark for such TV based applications. Despite all these positives and almost a cult following, a la the following that say Harley Davidson bikes enjoy, TiVO always found it tough to make it big in the market. It was a classical case where word of mouth somehow did not seem to work. Their advertisement campaign's came up short when it came to making the average TV viewer understand the concept. Though the concept was not very different from that of a VCR, somehow TiVO never took off.
I still believe a DVR like TiVO has excellent potential in a country like India, especially if a service provider were to introduce the service. I say that because, if a company were to introduce standalone DVRs like TiVO, they will face challenges like, how does the device fetch program guide data. TiVO acheived this by asking customers to hook up their broadband or phone line to the device. That may be very clumsy or unacceptable in most indian urban homes. A service provider will have the advantage of owning the network that will deliver guide data to a DVR. I can hear some people say, a DVR is still good without guide data but having sampled many DVRs personally, I can tell you that the addictive experience of a DVR completely depends on the quality of program guide data. The lack of good programming guide data available in the electronic form is a dampner in India. I had a tough time getting my MythTV DVR to scrape website to source guide data. A service provider again will have the advantage, especially if its a Tata Sky or Dish given they already seem to have guide data.
I only wish one of these service providers offered me the option to rent or buy a DVR that will work with their service. That alone will be compelling reason for me and my family to switch. Imagine this... TV Serials, especially the "K" ones in the hindi belt and the Sun Network channels in the south are so popular. If every housewife had an easy option to search or see program listing on their TV and could schedule recordings of these programs, would they not pay for it. I think they would.
That made me wonder why no one has ever thought of introducing these in India. I remember Dish did offer a DVR for a few months sometime back but it was priced so high that no one looked at it. I also imagine that Tata Sky and Dish wont want to introduce a DVR. Given they are indirectly owned by the content providers like Star and Zee, they sure don't want their customers to be recording and skipping ADs.
Windows Media Center or MythTV are the only options left for the average Tv viewer in India. Neither satisfies the need, given PC penetration is low and more importantly, no one wants to put their computer next to their TV or leave it on forever.
