In its first quarter earnings report Netflix said it plans to integrate its service with TiVo set-tops in the US, starting this quarter.
The company plans to announce its cooperation with MVPDs soon – a multichannel video programming distributor – that could be either cable, satellite DTH or telco. Reports last week suggested Netflix and Vodafone are near to a deal.
In Europe, Netflix is working together with Com Hem in Sweden and Liberty Global’s Virgin Media in the UK. Despite this cooperation with incumbent video content providers, the company will continue to roll out over as many OTT and connected platforms as possible.
“We remain very happy with the customer embrace of our MVPD set-top box integrations in Europe,” Netflix said in the earnings report.
“This quarter we will launch the first MVPD integrations in the US. As we did in Europe, we will start with US MVPDs that use the TiVo set-top box and try to extend to non-TiVo devices after that. From an MVPD point-of-view, they would rather have consumers use Netflix through the MVPD box and remote control than have consumers become accustomed to watching video from a smart TV or internet TV device remote control.
“We continue to see more capable internet television devices launched. Chromecast, Roku Streaming Stick, and Amazon Fire TV (on which we expect to support voice search later this year) push the quality of experience and price points for adapter products. Smart TVs from manufacturers like Sony, Samsung, LG and Vizio are starting to evolve from internet TV as a “bolt-on” to Internet TV as a critical and integrated part of the overall device interface. Roku TV will likely be available in the Fall as one of the first internet-centric TVs. We expect this trend to continually decrease the friction required for our members to access Netflix and enjoy great content.”
