Verizon Communications launched a site, FiOS TV Central, that provides access to TV listings and video-on-demand titles and is supposed to eventually let subscribers program their digital video recorders.
The site, accessible to subscribers at verizon.com/fiostvcentral, provides 14-day TV listings that can be filtered by category (such as sports or HD programming); a selection of VOD trailers and index of titles available on FiOS TV; lists of most-watched shows and most-purchased VOD titles; and a search function to find TV shows, movies, VOD, celebrities or pay-per-view events.
Verizon plans to add features to the site later this year that will allow customers to control their DVRs and set up and modify recordings remotely. Other features scheduled to be added include ordering VOD programming and managing parental controls.
The telco developed the site internally, according to Verizon spokeswoman Heather Wilner.
Cable companies provide similar sites, with varying degrees of sophistication.
For example, Comcast provides TV listings on Comcast.net. It also has a broader strategy with Fancast, which is designed to let users track down shows or movies online, on cable, on VOD, on iTunes or Netflix, or in theaters.
Comcast has said it plans to add a feature to Fancast by the end of 2008 that would let its cable TV customers program their DVRs.
