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Netflix builds TV connection with Wood

ReplayTV founder joins retailer as VP of Internet TV

By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 4/16/2007

Wood

APRIL 16 | Emphasizing its plan to be a leader in delivering movies over the Internet, Netflix said today that it has named Anthony Wood, the creator and founder of early digital video recorder company ReplayTV, as the company’s first VP of Internet TV.

Wood will be responsible for all aspects of product development related to the company’s initiatives in delivering movies from the Internet to the TV. He reports to chief product officer Neil Hunt.

“I believe that Netflix is the company best positioned to lead Internet-delivered video,” Wood said in a statement. “The company has taken the first step—and an innovative one—in offering online video to its members, and I’m here to work with a range of partners to get that video to the television, where consumers watch most of their movies.”

Wood founded ReplayTV, an early TiVo competitor acquired by SonicBlue in 2001. He later founded Roku, a company that makes digital media devices that transfer music, photo and video files to other devices. One of the features allowed users who ripped DVDs to the computers to play those files on the TVs.

Netflix said that Wood’s appointment underscores its commitment to delivering movies via the Internet. In January, Netflix launched its Watch Now service, which allows subscribers to stream to their PC select catalog movies from major studios as part of their monthly membership fee.

Speaking at an investor conference in March,  Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said the company planned to expand the service in the future to play on the TV, cell phones and other Internet-connected devices beyond the PC.

“The understanding, the expertise and the vision that Anthony possesses in this field are unmatched, and we are extremely pleased to have him lead our Internet TV effort,” Hunt said in a statement.

Connecting the Internet to the TV has been an increasing focus of movie download companies. Last month, Apple began shipping its Apple TV, a box that plays iTunes movie, music and TV files on the TV. In February, TiVo partnered with Amazon.com’s Unbox to deliver Internet movie downloads to the TV.

Netflix has been eyeing ways to connect the Internet to the TV for awhile.

Last summer, a Netflix exec disclosed that the company was considering developing a proprietary set-top box as one option for delivering digital movies to the TV, but the company has not mentioned it since.  A year earlier, Netflix disclosed it was in talks with TiVo on a potential partnership, but it didn’t developed further.

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