Group Seven Media is claiming its personal digital recorder (PVR) TiVo has doubled the sales of PVRs in Australia since its launch.
“Sales are tracking according to budget,” Seven Media spokesperson Simon Francis said.
“Across the eight weeks it has been on sale the sales of PVRs have doubled. It’s accounting for all the growth in PVR sales.”
Seven Media announced Woolworths retailer Dick Smith Electronics and Dick Smith Powerhouse, which equal 250 stores across the county will be selling the device from this week. Until now the device had been exclusively sold at Harvey Norman and Domayne, however that exclusive contract finished after six weeks.
Francis added that the company was also in discussions with retailer JB HiFi regarding them taking on the device. “We have two retailers on board and will have another one soon.”
Since the announcement in July it would sell for $699 media commentators have been sceptical about the appeal of the device compared to Foxtel’s IQ and IQ2.
Neither Seven nor Harvey Norman has disclosed sales details to the media, but Francis said TiVo was “going very well.”
It is believed Seven Media set a target of 50,000 units for the first year.
Along with Foxtel, a key issue for TiVo and Seven Media is the emergence of IPTV which will allow consumers to download movies and other content to a HD TV screen.
Seven is promoting the device’s interactive advertising capabilities to the ad industry, claiming it will lead to new integrated and interactive advertising strategies.
