TiVo, Best Buy Join Forces

DVR giant TiVo and electronics retailer Best Buy said Thursday that the companies are forming a "strategic alliance" that will see a significant increase in Best Buy's marketing and merchandising of TiVo's products.

In addition, the companies implied that sometime in the future TiVo DVRs sold through Best Buy will have a unique interface that allows the retailer to market to customers long after they leave the store.

There are also plans to integrate TiVo's user interface into products from Best Buy's Exclusive Brands group, which could mean an eventual Insignia or Magnolia version of the popular DVR, or even a television or other device that incorporates some portion of TiVo's feature set.

Although the announcement didn't go into specifics, it is a safe bet that Best Buy's Napster branded online music service will in some way find its way onto TiVo products too.

While this arrangement appears to be a win-win on the surface, a very real question is what, if any, benefit will the customer gain from it? Certain potential aspects of the deal may be attractive to some, specifically the addition of Napster to TiVo and other consumer electronic devices with the hugely popular TiVo interface.

But let's keep in mind that there is some level of exclusivity to this agreement, and it is not only possible, but likely, that only products sold by Best Buy will incorporate the new features.

In the past, the retailer has had exclusivity agreements that allowed it to sell special models of other components with extra features, such as Samsung Blu-ray players that added Pandora support to models available elsewhere.

But this agreement is different. Part of this deal specifically states that there is intention to use the interface in Best Buy-marketed TiVos to "provide a means of ongoing dialog with consumers and enable easy access to Best Buy's growing assortment of digital services." This can easily be translated to mean that Best Buy will be using the device as a marketing tool to promote other products to the user.

"Customers continue to find new ways to access information and interact, on their terms, with brands they trust," said Barry Judge, Best Buy's chief marketing officer. "The TiVo alliance will open a new channel of customer interaction -- we look forward to pioneering new media together."

Will users be willing to buy a Best Buy-marketed TiVo with extra features as the price for seeing Best Buy advertising? In general, the answer may be yes -- depending on how the companies implement it. TiVo relies heavily on various advertising methods now, and users don't seem to mind because it doesn't disrupt the experience. If this is carried over to the Best Buy model, it may be an acceptable trade-off for the extra feature set.

Would you consider buying a Best Buy exclusive TiVo?

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