HackingNetflix: Engadget Interviews Mike Ramsay, TiVo CEO

Via Hacking Netflix:

Tech site Engadget cornered Mike Ramsay, CEO of TiVO, in the hallway of Web 2.0 conference.

Ramsay had this to say about the Netflix relationship:

Engadget: Tell me about the new deal with Netflix.
Ramsay: It’s about video rental. Most people these days, at least in this community, are buying music electronically. They’re not buying physical media. And I think the same thing will happen with video. Instead of going to the video store or getting your Netflix in the mail, it’s going to show up in your TiVo. It’s a natural. It doesn’t matter if it takes a day to get there, because Netflix takes a day anyway. People will get used to having a pipeline where content drips through. The transition to electronic distribution will be complete and we won’t be dealing with physical media.

Engadget: So you’ll be competing with services like Movielink and CinemaNow?

Ramsay: Not really. Netflix will be a download, and those other services are streaming. All broadband Internet distribution will be a download for the foreseeable future. Streaming offers less than television quality. We believe that everything you deliver to the television has to be TV quality or better—you can’t compromise on that. The only way you can do that in the U.S. today is by download.