I’ve been looking on, with not inconsiderable envy, at the Virgin Media / Tivo adverts that seem to be everywhere at the moment.

We were early fans of the Tivo service, signing up via its then-partner Sky in 2000 for the service. The market wasn’t ready for the expense or complexity of it, however, and despite phenomenal expenditure on PR and marketing (I briefly worked for Sky/Tivo’s then PR agency in 2004 and the campaign was regarded as a massive success).

Now, after years of Sky+ and Freeview PVRs, the market is unquestionably ready. But I still don’t live in a cable area and so am exempted from the service. Damnit.

Still, the fact that Tivo’s back is a good thing. I’m sure that they’ll maintain exclusivity with Virgin for a while but I would pay good money for a Freeview PVR, I think, in spite of the fact that I have a glut of DVB and Freesat receivers via my media centre, TV, and old Sony PVR…