by Denise Marie Anton

Created on: October 21, 2010

TiVo has announced a new and more convenient way for users of its digital video recorders to manage their Season Passes online.

TiVo users have long been able to schedule recordings and set up Season Passes on the Internet via TiVo.com (or with m.tivo.com on their mobile phones). The idea behind the Season Pass Manager is to give users even more remote control. TiVo users can now reorganize their Season Pass request lists, delete individual requests, or transfer requests from one device to another, all without going anywhere near their TiVo boxes.

The transfer feature will also make it easier for TiVo customers to transfer Season Pass requests between devices when they upgrade to a newer model, addressing what has been a perennial thorn in the side for the popular DVR brand.

The TiVo Season Pass Manager will work with TiVo Premiere, Series 3, HD, and Series 2 TiVo boxes—in short, any TiVo DVR with a broadband connection.

Here’s how it works:

Reordering or deleting Season Pass requests

To reorganize or delete your Season Pass requests, log into TiVo.com, click “Find TV Shows,” then click on the “Season Pass Manager” option in the left-hand column. From the drop-down menu in the first column, choose the TiVo box associated with the Season Pass list you want to edit. When that list appears, you are ready to make whatever changes you want.

To reorder the list, simply click on the title of a show, then drag and drop it to its new slot in the lineup. To delete a show entirely, mark its checkbox and click “Delete.” It may take awhile before the changes you make online show up on your TiVo box, so be patient.

Transferring Season Pass requests between two TiVo boxes

If you have more than one TiVo box and you want to transfer Season Pass requests between them (or if you’ve just bought a new TiVo and want to transfer the Season Pass requests from your old one), follow the steps above until the list from one of your TiVo boxes appears in the first column. Then use the drop-down menu in the second column to select the other TiVo box. (It doesn’t matter which box—the source or the destination—ends up in which column.)

Next, mark the checkboxes of all the Season Pass requests (on both devices) that you want to transfer. Then click “Copy to the other box.” Season Pass Manager will move all the checked requests simultaneously between the boxes. (If the two DVRs have different channel lineups, you do need to make sure the shows you want to transfer are scheduled to run within two weeks from the time you move them.)

The TiVo Season Pass Manager is available at the TiVo website, www.tivo.com/spm.

Sources:

“How to Use the Season Pass Manager on TiVo.com.” TiVo.com.

Patel, Nilay. “TiVo Launches Online Season Pass Manager.” Engadget.com, October 13, 2010.

Warren, Christina. “TiVo Makes Managing Season Passes Remotely Easier.” Mashable.com, October 13, 2010.

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