The new Virgin Media TiVo set box promises to launch well in the UK. The British market is dominated by two large specialist television providers, Virgin Media and bSkyb (Sky). By offering TiVo, Virgin Media have improved their product and show the innovative nature of their business.

The UK market is ripe for the TiVo service, up until now there is seemingly little difference between the Virgin Media cable service and it's main rival Sky. Though Virgin is a cable service and the Sky channels are provided by satellite, the actual technology in the home is quite similar. Both offer standard set top boxes and Plus boxes which have Personal Video Recording (PVR) built in.

The Virgin Media TiVo set top box will be different. The software on the TiVo box will really bring out the advances in the Virgin Media cable network. The software allows an array of television programme searches and the ability to record a vast amount of television shows.

More importantly, it shows how Virgin Media are working to innovate in this market. Up until recently, this innovation has mainly been in infrastructure - Virgin Media have invested millions to upgrade their data infrastructure to fibre-optic, and now have some very high speed broadband tariffs available.

However, the offer of TiVo is the first opportunity to see Virgin Media innovate the television experience. The British public are likely to love it.