Dish buy TIVO why not?

[bdemz]

With all of their probs with receivers and software, why doesn't Dish just buy TIVO?

With their contract being cut from D*, I think they can get them cheap

 

[Faw]

With all of their probs with receivers and software, why doesn't Dish just buy TIVO?

With their contract being cut from D*, I think they can get them cheap

They just got a contract with Comcast. They will be porting the Tivo software to some of their boxes. If I were Dish I would buy them anyway, if only for the brand recognition. Also, if I were Charlie I would be thrilled to be getting money (for licensing) from DTV and Comcast, and I think it would be good PR too. "We are better than them, they need our software to look good". But that would be too smart.

What I would like Dish to do is open the boxes a little. Keep the drivers for the tuners locked, keep the video encrypted, but let users tweak the receivers a little, like Tivo does. There are many programmers who have Dish equipment (like me) that would work for free just to get a stable and trusted receiver. I wish I could get an NDA to be able to add NBR to my 721, or put it in a LAN to add timers through the internet. So much potential, such closed minds.

 

[nuts4scuba]

Charlie believes he makes a very fine tapeless record box on his own.

 

[desiguy2447]

Dish

Good point!!

I really wish Dish would allow big electronic giants like Samsung, Sony, RCA, JVC, and LG to make Dish Network receivers. This would rid us of the probmatic problems we all face with all the new receivers coming out.

Also I think Dish Network receivers would also drop big time in price because there would be so many players in market.

This is off the topic, but why doesn't Dish (Charlie) go to some big company and let them provided us the new MPEG 4 software/technology for the new MPEG 4 receivers that will one day come out? So we can have more HD sooner than later!!

 

[koojoe]

I agree with the statements about name recognition. I'd like to see Echostar team up with ReplayTv to use their PVR's. The onboard USB, LAN, and Phone lines make it ideal for transfering mpeg2 files. Tivo has the same abilities as ReplayTV but needs some hacks for it to work. I don't want to start some flame war between Replay and Tivo, just letting people know about both options. They could atleast implement a serial port on the back of their recievers for tivo or replaytv to use.


Are you guys saying to let big name electronics make the 'recievers' or to make the 'pvrs'? I see both things posted. I'm not sure E* would want to give up that much 'control' over their business. Reliance on 3rd parties can cause some problems.

 

[Faw]

I agree with the statements about name recognition. I'd like to see Echostar team up with ReplayTv to use their PVR's. The onboard USB, LAN, and Phone lines make it ideal for transfering mpeg2 files. Tivo has the same abilities as ReplayTV but needs some hacks for it to work. I don't want to start some flame war between Replay and Tivo, just letting people know about both options. They could atleast implement a serial port on the back of their recievers for tivo or replaytv to use.

Weird, I posted something and it never got into the forum... anyway...
The DishLinux receivers (721,and I guess 921, are the 5xx DishLinux too?) have LAN drivers installed, they are just turned off. About the mpeg files, that's another problem. It will never happen, Dish doesn't want the MPAA on their ass. Why do you think the firewire in the 921 will never work?

Are you guys saying to let big name electronics make the 'recievers' or to make the 'pvrs'? I see both things posted. I'm not sure E* would want to give up that much 'control' over their business. Reliance on 3rd parties can cause some problems.

I agree, is the same reason Apple wont release their OS for PCs , they make money on hardware as well. Competition is bad when you have a monopoly, and Dish now has a monopoly on Dish receivers. The thing is they have nothing to lose by opening their boxes. They would get free programers who would add features or fix bugs for them which they could then add to their software at no cost.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Dish will not buy Tivo because that would be too logical.

Dish does not do things which makse sense or are logical.

Dish had the oportunity to buy ReplayTV and they chose not to do that, that in my book was a huge mistake by management.

 

[dtanderson]

Voom is the one that needs TIVO. If Voom were able to buy TIVO and release a TIVO based Voom box then they may be able get their customer base to grow

 

[roadrhino]

Dish will not buy Tivo because that would be too logical.

Dish does not do things which makse sense or are logical.

Dish had the oportunity to buy ReplayTV and they chose not to do that, that in my book was a huge mistake by management.

I won't comment on whether E* typically does things that make sense or not.

The problem with E* buying either of these PVR companies is that it would be an implicit admission that their own PVRs blow. Comcast has several different pvr platforms that all blow. While many would say that TiVo needs Comcast more than the other way around, I would argue that their agreement benefits both firms equally. TiVo gets the cash they need (probably on the order of $1 per comcast TiVo box per month, something like the DirecTiVo) and Comcast gets to trumpet the TiVo brandname and software as an integral part of their lineup.

I don't believe that the TiVo wants to be taken over by anyone right now, but E* least of all. There would be a lot less fighting if Apple were to try to buy the firm than if E* or Disney were to try. TiVo couldn't fight a well funded hostile takeover, but if the new owner were heavyhanded and dictated dramatic changes (and I fear that Charlie and Disney and any such content creator or content provider would attempt to do just this), people won't buy as many TiVos. If TiVo were to start restricting a person's abilities (compared to what they have now) they will die pretty quickly. They've agreed to allow Macrovision so that HBO PPV films cannot be burned onto DVD, but they've said they kill Macrovision on their boxes if companies start to pull a "transitional fair use" argument where you can watch a show, but only within a month of the record date.

I am sure, however, that if Charlie wanted to license the TiVo software for their boxes that TiVo would be very interested in making a deal. Now THAT would truly benefit E* ... to give their customers a few more integrated options. The only reason I can think of now for choosing an E* pvr or the DirctTiVo over a stand alone is the dual tuner. With Cablecard coming online soon, dual tuner stand alone TiVos will be truly affordable and attractive compared to satellite pvr offerings.

Just some random ramblings from ...

Roadrhino

 

[kbohip]

It would be horrible if Dish bought Tivo. Bye bye hacks! Forget ever changing out a hard drive. No thanks, Dish can just keep to themselves and continue building their poop boxes.

 

[reddice]

I hope not. The main reason I went back to Dish was to get far away from the Tivo.

 

[MikeD-C05]

How about the fast guides that Dish has with the reliability of the Tivo software. THen you could have season passes that worked . Dish needs to do something to make the Tivo lawsuit go away. Paying Tivo for it's software would do that and Dish and Tivo would win. Buying Tivo and making it part of Dish would do the same thing ; making the lawsuit go away. I like the 522 and I am about to get a 942 that works like the 522. I wish it was a little more reliable . A Dish hd Tivo would be sweet. I like the way it splits the ota tuner into two tuners making it able to record 2 ota channels at the same time.

Dish could benefit from stable dvr receivers. Imagine all the profit that Dish could make if they started taking in money from the Directv customers and the stand alone tivo customers. Dish already make profits so this would make their stock soar even higher. Charlie really needs to think about buying them.

Either way I see Charlie losing the Tivo lawsuit and paying damages and possibly having to pay for the software and pay retroactive to when the dishplayer (7100/7200) came out in 1999.

Wouldn't Buying Tivo eliminate this problem and Charlie would win all the way around?

 

[Chris Walker]

I am convinced the only reason Tivo is suing Dish is because they want Dish to buy them.

 

[MikeD-C05]

You might be right. Gemstar did the same thing a year or so with their own lawsuit about the program guides, and they forced Dish to pay them money in a settlement and we now have The TV GUIDE channel on Dish.

Then again if Tivo wins against Dish with their lawsuit , it would start a precedent; they can then start lawsuits against all the cable dvrs out there and force them to pay and use their software etc. Then they have everyone using Tivo and paying them money which they so desperately need to stay in business. I guess a good offense makes the best defense. They could sue themselves into the black.

 

[roadrhino]

I am convinced the only reason Tivo is suing Dish is because they want Dish to buy them.

Surely you mean that TiVo wants E* to buy the TiVo software ... not that TiVo wants E* to buy the TiVo corporation...

Roadrhino