If only they had announced this 2-3 weeks ago (as in before the first day of the NFL season)… My former fantasy league jumped to FleaFlicker and my current league is on Yahoo. If they had gotten this up sooner, I would have petitioned hard to keep one of my leagues on CBS Sportsline — because this is the most innovative and practical application I’ve seen out of the HME engine.

TiVo says: TiVo Inc, the creator of and the leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), and CBS SportsLine, a leading Internet sports media organization and part of CBS Digital Media, announced today that CBS SportsLine Fantasy Football Companion can be accessed from any television connected to a broadband-enabled TiVo® Series2™ DVR. Registered users of CBS SportsLine Fantasy Football can manage their leagues, check stats and scores, and watch highlights from the comfort of their living rooms with their TiVo remote control. CBS SportsLine and TiVo are creating a new form of interactive sports programming for subscribers.

TiVo obviously has a big deal going with CBS: The press release indicates that in addition to rolling out the Fantasy Football HME app, TiVo will also be presenting CBS Sportsline video Showcases, Gold Star promotions, and interactive advertising tags. Earlier this week, TiVo also announced they would be premiering CBS’ The Class (via download) ahead of it’s live TV debut.

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HTPC enthusiast Eirik Solheim spent some time with TVedia and came away very impressed, despite the software’s lack of DVR functionality. However… What immediately caught my eye was the Amazon affiliate advertising built into the interface (in addition to the $35 software fee). I exchanged a few emails with Eirik who informed me the “feature” is optional and sent along a screenshot showing how users can toggle the ads. It’s an interesting strategy and well executed given TVedia’s spartan interface and disable options.

Eirik writes: TVedia is a media center frontend with some extremely interesting networking functionality and a very nice interface for YouTube, Google Video, Flickr, LastFM and other media related web sites. I recently gave it a run on my Windows Media Center Edition box. So far this is one of the most interesting products I have seen in this space for a long time! The music library, networking and online features are way better than what I am used to in MCE.

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Ready to sell some TiVos? Good, because TiVo is ready for you. A few weeks ago I covered this advertising scheme, so I won’t bother repeating myself.

Wow, Fox content is popping up everywhere (TitanTV, Yahoo, AOL, IGN). This morning my mom got an email linked to an Amazon “Fox Fall TV Sneak Peek” page of numerous series video clips.

UPDATE: Looks like Fox is advertising on 50 (!) sites. Wonder how much a video campaign of this magnitude costs…

(Thanks Mom!)

Never enough time…

• TiVo tastes some sweet revenge. (Wired)
• Yahoo television guide updated with video clips and pilot episodes. (Yahoo)
• What’s holding up international deployment of SlingPlayer Mobile? (SlingCommunity)
• Omnicom Media Group signs advertising agreement With TiVo. (TiVo)
• KnoppMyth updated. (PVRWire)

The TiVo Ministry pitched KidZone to clergy in Dallas and Atlanta this week while picking up the National Association of Evangelicals Seal of Approval. TiVo plans to visit other religious leaders later this month at the Islamic Center, Wiccan Church, and Temple Shalom.* Also this week, TiVo deployed on-box advertising to get the KZ word out. I still don’t have any use for this feature, but I imagine there are parents of varying political and religious leanings who will put it to use (and many who won’t bother).

Washington Post says: TiVo officials discussed its KidZone feature during a breakfast with religious leaders and handed out digital video recorders to ministers and others to try it out. “We know that kids are going to be exposed to the media, so why don’t we take the media on our own terms?” TiVo Inc. Vice President Joe Miller told the group of about 50. A similar gathering was held earlier this week in Atlanta.

*To the best of my knowledge that is a joke.

We’ve seen television content start to pop up all over the interwebs (some free and some pay) the last few months. Now HD aficionado web program guide TitanTV has got into the action by providing free Fox content. Since they’ll only be showing the first three episodes of Prison Break and Vanished, I see this as a method of series advertising. Unlike other “free” content, these Fox shows do not contain commercials and you can fast forward or rewind at will… I’m not sure how long that will last, but it’s pretty nice especially if you take the content full screen to avoid banner ads. Fox has also started providing programming directly through their web site.

TitanTV says: “We are proud to provide TitanTV as a venue for FOX to showcase full episodes of their compelling new programs,” said President and CEO of Decisionmark Corp., Jack Perry. “The video content is a logical extension of TitanTV’s powerful listings guide. Consumers rely on TitanTV every day to find out what’s on TV — now they can actually access their favorite FOX network programs right from our program grid. It’s a great way for FOX to extend their reach and accessibility to their programs.”