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Seven Media Group announced its on-demand TV content business strategy as a growing number of competitors rush to offer new video download services via broadband internet to TV screens in Australia.

The group’s Hybrid TV subsidiary holds the TiVo TV set-top box licence in Australia as well as in New Zealand and a week from this announcement, it will offer via TiVo a pay-per-view TV series and expanded content. The additional content for download will include films, music videos and also a selection of educational and community services.

Additional commercial services will be launched in April 2010 that includes ordering pizza online and content that are advertiser-funded.

The group announced the added services during the company’s trial run with the government in Tasmanian where TiVo boxes were given away.

Hybrid TV also lowered the price of the TiVo set top box from $699 to $599. For the old price of $699, a new box upgraded to have home networking capability and a bigger hard drive will be offered.

Hybrid TV’s move follows the announcements of its competitors’ set-top boxes such as Sony's PlayTV and Telstra's Tbox.

Fetch TV was reported by The Australian to be forming partnerships with smaller ISPs to offer content download to their customers’ TV sets.

Robbee Minicola,  Hybrid TV’s  chief executive said that Seven content can be viewed on  computers, internet-connected TV sets, including portable games consoles which do not compete with its own TiVo.