Interview with TiVo CEO Tom Rogers 77
Thomas Hawk writes "Bloomberg did an exclusive interview with TiVo's Tom Rogers this week where among other things he discussed the possibility of TiVo offering a subscription only pricing model (i.e. no upfront cost to buy a TiVo box), the increasingly important role that advertising, ironically, is playing in their current business model, and details on the upcoming Series 3 standalone HDTV unit due out later this year."
Tivo.. cable programming over IP? (Score:5, Interesting)
If I could get DSL speeds equivalent to what I get from Time Warner, and be able to buy only the channels I want, I'd drop them in a heartbeat, assuming it costs less than $80/mo in total..
Why I am Red Hot Mad at DirecTV (Score:1, Interesting)
DirecTV used to be my favorite Satellite provider. When they launched TiVo service I got even more excited. However, it looks as if DirecTV has gotten "too big for their britches". In my opinion their parent company Murdoch's News Corp. is a bunch rich bastards who couldn't care less about their customers. News Corp. also owns NDS which is a competing DVR company. Naturally, not caring about the wants or needs of their customers they are trying to force NDS down our throats and drop TiVo as an offering. In order to make it "seem" like they are making things better for us they have stopped all software updates for the DirecTV versions of the TiVo that add new features. That way, they can make their offering look better. In reality, their product is weak at best and they have purposely made our TiVo machines limited in functionality. I find this tactic to be monopolistic at least and in my opinion it is fraudulent. Unfortunately for me, I just bought a DirecTV HD-TiVo and signed a year long contract. I can assure you that if they don't get their act together, I will no longer be a customer the day my contract expires. New smaller companies who care about their customers and who are willing to offer the customer the services they want will soon be nipping at the heels of DirecTV. I'll be looking for that company and they will get my money. I am also encouraging all of my friends and family to drop DirecTV and move to someone else when their contracts are up. I feel like on-line petitions are worthless, but if you haven't already signed it, please sign the following petition: DirecTV TiVo Petition [petitiononline.com]. While signing this might help, the only effective way to get companies like this to wake up is to hit them in their pocket books. It's sad, because DirecTV used to be small and care what customers wanted.
Re:Tivo.. cable programming over IP? (Score:4, Interesting)
I wish Google would buy Tivo. It would seem to be symbotic for both companies -- since Tivo is trying to get into broadband video delivery, and Google is trying to collect a corpus of video for Google Video. Plus, Tivo would elevate above PVR and into (i know, I know, but it's different this time) set-top box, going beyond the TV recording focus. Plus, the companies would then fare better against MS's assaults on both fronts.
Yes, but when is TiVo UK coming out of the coma! (Score:2, Interesting)
The Hardware...
What on *earth* is going on at TiVo UK?
Which deal with which devil leaves the UK market uncontested like this?!
Parent Post is Uninformed (Score:4, Interesting)
FUD!!!!!!!!!!!!
1. Tivo showed their HDTV box at CES 2005, and again at 2006. It isn't a technology issue, it is a wait for the Cable Card standards and certifcation (2.0 which allows up and down stream still isn't finished!)
2. Comcast and Tivo are working together. Comcast is paying Tivo to port their software to the Comcast Motorola box. The status as of CES 2006 was that key functionality was working. Tivo will get recurring revenue for every subscriber that chooses Tivo interface and Tivo and Comcast will split advertising revenue generated through Tivo's advertising services.
http://news.com.com/TiVo,+Comcast+reach+DVR+deal/
3. Business is fine. Rogers (CEO) said during last Growth Conference in December that the company could ad 500k subscribers on break even cash flow. There are plenty of other networks besides Comcast/Dish/DirecTV that cannot afford to build and design their own DVR.
DVR is evolving. Tivo SA2's all have broadband through USB. Series 3 (shown at CES 2006 and rumored to be in beta) will have built in broadband. Generic DVRs do not talk to your network. Play your MP3s, show your picture collections, let you view RSS feeds, etc...
Tivo defends their "Time Warp" patent in Texas this March against Dish. That is one of the patents in the Patent Office's Museum.
Tivo has a 1% churn rate, a rare feat in cable and television services.
Tivo is going worldwide (TGC).