RCN Selects TiVo as Its Primary DVR Platform

TiVo’s Rich, Unique Feature Set Combined With RCN’s Digital and VOD Programming and Access to Diverse Library of Broadband Content Expected to Lead the Market

HERNDON, VA and ALVISO, CA — RCN Corporation (NASDAQ: RCNI), a leading provider of all-digital and high definition video, high-speed internet, and premium voice services to residential and small-medium business customers, in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., as well as high-capacity transport services to carrier and large enterprise customers, and TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), have entered into a strategic relationship for RCN to offer co-branded, uniquely configured TiVo High Definition DVRs to its residential and small business customers. With TiVo as its primary DVR offering, RCN will provide customers with the richest DVR feature set and most advanced converged television and internet experience available.

Peter D. Aquino, CEO of RCN, stated, “RCN, the pioneer of triple play technology, is proud to partner with TiVo, the pioneer of DVR technology, to offer our customers a unique content and feature rich experience that is superior to any cable or satellite offering available today. The TiVo® DVR from RCN is a truly innovative convergence of video and broadband programming controlled through a single user interface that is simple, intuitive, and dramatically different from that of other DVRs. We are always looking for ways to improve our customers’ experience, and TiVo brings us the best feature set at a very compelling value while also allowing us to deploy these new services faster than our competitors because we can leverage our current infrastructure.”

Expected to launch in early 2010, the TiVo DVR from RCN will provide customers with a first of its kind video experience by fully integrating RCN’s digital programming and Video on Demand (VoD) library with a wide variety of broadband delivered video programming — this means that RCN customers will have access to a vast library of programming not available through traditional cable or satellite services.

Tom Rogers, president and CEO of TiVo, stated, “We are thrilled with this relationship because RCN is stepping up to be the first cable provider to offer the TiVo hardware and software as its primary DVR product, giving its customers total control over a truly integrated, 100% digital experience that combines traditional television programming with the rapidly growing universe of internet delivered content. This is a great marriage of TiVo’s and RCN’s histories of innovation and our respective roadmaps for the future of television where millions of shows must be made searchable and accessible on-demand, in an elegant, consumer-friendly manner. Soon, RCN subscribers will have at their fingertips the most advanced television experience bar none.”

With the TiVo DVR from RCN, users will be able to access all of the following through a single remote control:

• Emmy award-winning TiVo features — Record every episode of a favorite show with Season Pass™ recordings; control show playback; automatically find & record anything with WishList® searches; receive personalized suggestions; and schedule recordings on the web or with TiVo Mobile.
• Search by keyword — Provides subscribers with the cable industry’s first-ever comprehensive keyword search across Linear TV, broadband, and VOD.
• RCN Video on Demand — An industry breakthrough allows users to access and order all RCN VoD programming, including network and premium channel shows, movies, sports, international programs, and millions of broadband videos through TiVo’s single search function.
• Broadband Programming — Download movies from Amazon Video on Demand, watch music videos, and stream thousands of free radio stations.
• Interactive Applications — View pictures and listen to music stored on a home personal computer, view your photos from Picasa Web Albums™ from Google or Photobucket, listen to millions of songs from Rhapsody, order Domino’s pizza or Fandango movie tickets, receive weather reports and traffic updates, play games.
• TiVoToGo™ Transfers — Easily take shows with you on your laptop, media device, or Smartphone (e.g. iPod/iPhone, PSP, Blackberry, etc.)
• Whole Home DVR — Connect two or more TiVo DVRs from RCN through a home network to enable seamless multi-room viewing and recording.
• TiVo KidZone — These simple family-friendly features provide parents a second line of defense when they can’t be in the room.
• Western Digital’s My DVR Expander — An attachable drive with hundreds of extra recording hours.

More: RCN-TiVo DVR