While TiVo may have revolutionized television, and even coined a new word as the word TiVo has become synonymous with the digital video recording technology it pioneered. But a company based on a single technology, revolutionary though it may be, can struggle. And since its inception in 1999, TiVo has operated in the red. With other companies undercutting TiVo in the DVR market, the company lashed out at everyone and anyone for infringing on their intellectual ideas.
This New York Times article details that on November 29, the Patent and Trademark Office recognized TiVo's patent on the technology allowing viewers to watch one show while recording another. Couple that with a smaller quarterly loss than anticipated and the company sees a bright future.
To facilitate this, TiVo has been making strides to appease frustrated advertisers, scared that viewers are skipping their commercials, as well as making alliances with those same cable/satellite providers with rival DVRs. CEO of TiVo Tom Rogers said, "We are very much a technology company. At the same time, in the last year and a half we've substantially moved in the direction of becoming a media company." TiVo has been trying to make amends with its industry brethren by offering second-by-second ratings analysis of watched commercials as well as looking into static banners that will run even during fast-forwarded commercials.
DVR is a growing segment of the industry, as is the whole notion of "TV On Demand" and TiVo is well positioned to stay at the forefront of how to marry this new way of watching television with the old way of paying for it (advertisement). Other recent strategic alliances include one with Music Choice, which will allow TiVo subscribers to choose from a library of thousands of music videos what to watch and when to watch, as well as Photobucket and Picasa Web Albums for photo sharing and Nero for deeper computer integration of the TiVo software. As the television moves closer and closer to being the multimedia center of the household, TiVo looks pretty well positioned to be a key part of making that a reality. And making bucketloads of cash in the process.
And if all of this means that I don't have to stop playing online video games to catch the latest episodes of Samantha Who? and Reaper, and that I can receive pictures of my nephews without having to get up off my butt, and I can watch the latest Britney Spears trainwreck video, then I am in fanboy heaven!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-10-2007 @ 12:10PM
dude said...
I have had tivo for a little over 3 years now. I am upgrading to an HDTV and I think i will just go with the cable companies DVR box. Heres why
1. Both same montly fee but 0 upfront cost with cable companies box.
2.IF i pay for tivo service AND the tivo box i dont think they should be putting up ad banners at all unless i check a preference or something. Tivo is a service you PAY for to skip commercials.
3. The new amazon unbox service is ok but the selection is pretty slim and most movies cost the same or more than movies from comcast on demand.
4. Tivo to go is a neat feature but i dont use it enough to justify the $300 tivo HD price tag.
Anyone else have a tivo HD? happy with it?
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12-10-2007 @ 12:13PM
Joey Geraci said...
Tivo needs to die. The entire business model of charging a monthly update for a DVR is totally backassed, and Tivo can't change that fundamental fact. Tivo could give away a barebones DVR product, with the essential DVR features (including Season Pass and all other DVR-centric features) and program guide, and charge a monthly fee for Music Choice, Picasa, Photobucket, TV on Demand, etc. But charging a monthly fee for a DVR service is a failed business model.
(Note: the monthly fee that the cable companies charge for their DVR's is a different matter. You don't pay any money for the hardware with them, so your rental fee is for the box itself. Tivo makes a handsome profit on their hardware, along with charging a significant monthly fee. That doesn't make any sense, is a horrible deal, and Tivo needs to go bankrupt for it.)
When Tivo is eventually sold for scrap, and poor Tivo evangelists are having to throw their boxes in the trash heap and cry themselves to sleep, I will still be enjoying the much superior service that Snapstream's product gives me. ($120 gave me the unending right to use the software, one tuner, and an RF remote)
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12-10-2007 @ 12:17PM
Joey Geraci said...
dude's thinking is exactly why Tivo is going to die. Most people are not going to pay a monthly fee for Tivo, and pay a hefty upfront fee for the box, while there is the cheap option of the cable company DVR. Yes, Tivo is probably a much nicer experience, but the Cable DVR's are getting better every day, and the price can't be beat.
(I have old-fashioned analog cable with a fantastic selection of channels where I live, so Snapstream is the best of all possible options for me.)
12-10-2007 @ 12:30PM
JayC said...
We have both Tivo and Directv HD-DVR. Tivo is wayyyy better at user interface and function. I wished those 2 would get back together. maybe Directv should buy Tivo?
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12-10-2007 @ 12:55PM
Akbar Fazil said...
It is all about the user interface for me. Hands down, no other DVR out there can beat Tivo. I paid a lifetime sub along time ago for my S2 so I don't get hurt by the pain people feel of paying monthly for tivo. However, if paying monthly was my only choice, I would probably do it because I enjoy the product.
As for the ads tivo is adding in, you are never forced to watch them. A popup during your fast foward is no big deal. The one that gets added to the end of programs when you are done is always a choice to watch. No big deal. I do love skipping commercials but honestly, where do you think money comes from to make tv shows?
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12-10-2007 @ 1:39PM
PunditGuy said...
So you never used to get up and grab a snack or hit the head when the commercials came on pre-TiVo?
I was a longtime TiVo owner waiting for years for a hi-def box to appear. When it finally did for $800, I said buh-bye to TiVo and built my own DVR with MythTV. It ain't perfect, but it's got an interface and reliability far superior to the cable DVR. Fact is, I don't miss my TiVo -- but had they led with the $399 box, I may never have switched.
12-10-2007 @ 4:59PM
Lenny said...
I'm another satisfied owner of a snapstream product and have no desire to enter Tivo's monthly fee scam any time soon.
Just my 2˘
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12-10-2007 @ 5:57PM
Karen said...
I have a DVR through Time Warner, and I've never had TiVo. I don't know what I might be missing, but I know I'm pretty damn happy with what I've got. I don't see the point in spending more money than the $10/month I shell out for my DVR. I don't need any added functionality.
I dunno what kind of partnership ideas TiVo is working out with cable providers, but they'd best not mess with my DVR.
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12-10-2007 @ 7:45PM
asd said...
Patent to watch a show and record at the same time? Every Betamax ad from the 80s promoted this feature. I thought patents were for novel ideas. USPO keeping up the great work!
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12-10-2007 @ 8:06PM
Allen said...
We had to switch to a Dish dvr when we moved to our house. And I felt like someone had taken one of my limbs. For three months it was pure torture. Tivo made a perfect device. Sure the fee is exhorbitant but that fee makes up for itself in ease of use and interface. If I need to find 12 or 13 bucks to justify it I can always dump one of the prmium movie channels. Truth is, with netflix and poor original programming, HBO's model is archaic. Showtime's as well, but I like whoever is programming that net now.
Tivo will probably go the way of the dodo one day but no other dvr service can match it. It's one of those things where, once you have it, you really miss it when it's gone.
When we decided to switch, we left Dish for Directv, bought a couple of used Tivos on ebay and couldn't be happier.
I know that there are haters out there, especially when tivo lovers sound like a cult, but it's just a product that works. And works better than the knockoffs. Sure, one day someone will come along and make a better one, but til that day, tivo got it right.
I think there absolutely should be a advertising that can't be forwarded through or skipped. Or something since we don't pay for tivo for the right to ff commercials. We pay for the organizational and data culling service and that has no comparison.
DirectV SHOULD get back into business with Tivo. And the cost should be considerably less than it is. With directv it is substantially less.
Oh, well, there's no way to convince people so we'll just enjoy the hell out of or Tivo until the day comes when he has to go away. Nothing alsts forever, but it's fun while its here.
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12-10-2007 @ 8:53PM
Nick said...
Recently, our DirecTV DVR box downloaded new software and that software is called Busted v12.2. It kind of smells like our DVR. It seems to have the same functions, but then there's the thing where if you fast forward it to the beginning of an act, it backs up by 2 minutes. It now no longer lets you know when you have a recording conflict, so we ended up with 29 minutes of Grey's Anatomy. It still seems to screw up like record "ER" and say it's an hour, but it's just a frame of black. That's nice. Oh, and the new added feature is that when you record a series and set it to just new episodes only, it still highlights everything as if it's saving everything, so you can't tell if you are going to get a new episode as opposed to the 50th showing of a very special episode.
TiVo may have it's problems and the pop-up feature idea sounds totally ridiculous, but it felt more together, mor like home. I miss the pop-o-matic noise it made when you selected stuff. It doesn't look like it's still running on DOS. It feels like a warm friend that lets you put your feet up and settle in for a marathon of "The Wire."
In conclusion, DirecTV sucks my left sack while I'd pick TiVo first in kickball.
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