I’m running out of time on my TiVO will be acquired by somebody in 2005 prediction (#15), and new life in a marketing deal might give them more financial heart pumping. Yahoo has entered into some type of deal with TiVO that will open up Yahoo’s online service to TiVo’s set top boxes (Series 2 only? Yup, and seems like DirecTV/TiVo series 2 customers don’t get the functionality yet), according to a story in the The New York Times.

TiVo users will be able to use Yahoo’s television listings to find programs and, by checking the appropriate boxes, send instructions to their TiVos to record those shows. In coming months, TiVo users will be able to view on their televisions pictures that have been stored on the Yahoo Photos site, as well as local weather and traffic information from Yahoo. Notably absent from the deal is a way for TiVo users to watch video via Yahoo.

This could be Yahoo playing catch up with Media Center, but I’m curious why they didn’t just outright buy TiVo? Price tag too high? Before I get too excited about this deal, I’d like to see more integration between the two than what’s mentioned above. Like what about the ability to listen to LAUNCHcast through TiVo? Yahoo has a page explaining how to schedule recordings on your TiVo from Yahoo! TV.

Yahoo could make the experience pretty cool and maybe, maybe interest me in a series 2 TiVo box, if only for testing the development side of the experience if/when most or all Yahoo services were included. I still think a more likely scenario is somebody buying TiVo. But will it be Yahoo?

What if Google steps in and buys them with a bunch of Yahoo integration? Ooo, wouldn’t that be something?

ZDNet’s Russell Shaw thinks so too: “I wonder if this is a precursor to, say, Yahoo! buying TiVo? I believe that TiVo will sell, and both Google and Yahoo! would be interested. Now, we have to figure out which alliance would offer the more compelling valuation:”

TiVo Related links
TiVo developer area (series 2 only)
TiVo blog

• Deal or desperation? *Free series2 TiVo box for $16.95/month
• Google or Yahoo may acquire TiVo
• TiVo starts testing pop-up ads on fast forward, no opt-out
• Ready, set, TiVoToGo … sort of
• Google testing free email service: Gmail
• Yahoo says “me too” on the DVR scene?