Per Swanni
http://www.tvpredictions.com/tivo060507.htm
TiVo Hints of New DIRECTV Deal
The company CEO says DIRECTV's new owners would be a 'positive."
By Phillip Swann
Washington, D.C. (June 5, 2007) -- TiVo CEO Tom Rogers yesterday suggested that DIRECTV might renew its marketing relationship when the satcaster is taken over by Liberty Media.
That's according to an article by Reuters.
For several years, DIRECTV marketed TiVo's Digital Video Recording service to its customers, helping TiVo amass roughly half of its 4.3 million subscriber base. DIRECTV-TiVo DVRs include both HD DVRs and standard-definition DVRs.
However, DIRECTV decided in 2005 to stop offering TiVo after Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. purchased control of the company. News Corp. owns a rival DVR service.
While TiVo continues to provide service for existing DIRECTV-TiVo subs, the lack of new satellite subs has dramatically slowed the company's growth.
Noting that Liberty Media will take control of DIRECTV later this year in a stock swap with News Corp., Rogers yesterday said that could be a "positive" for TiVo.
"Liberty is a company that has no ownership interests, now or after the DIRECTV closes, in a competing DVR, and that probably changes things," Rogers told a Deutsche Bank investor conference, according to Reuters.
Rogers even said he knows Liberty officials who are fans of his company's DVR.
"I look at that as a positive in terms of a change of ownership though that deal hasn't closed yet," he said.
When DIRECTV launched its own High-Definition DVR last year, many satellite owners expressed dissatisfaction with the device and called for DIRECTV to once again begin selling TiVo.
However, DIRECTV has worked to eliminate software bugs in the HD DVR, which has largely quieted the critics.
TiVo could certainly benefit from DIRECTV offering its HD DVR to its 16 million subscribers. The company's standalone HD DVR retails for $799, which is far too expensive for most high-def owners.
TiVo has said it plans to release a less expensive HD DVR by the end of the year.
In other issues, TiVo's Rogers said yesterday that he still expects Comcast to begin rolling out its DVR service this August.
"I certainly hope it remains on schedule," said Rogers. "It's largely beyond our control... I can just measure ongoing enthusiasm from Comcast operating people," he told the investors conference, according to Reuters.
He added that Cox Communications will also launch TiVo-enabled Motorola set-tops by the end of the year.
http://www.tvpredictions.com/tivo060507.htm
TiVo Hints of New DIRECTV Deal
The company CEO says DIRECTV's new owners would be a 'positive."
By Phillip Swann
Washington, D.C. (June 5, 2007) -- TiVo CEO Tom Rogers yesterday suggested that DIRECTV might renew its marketing relationship when the satcaster is taken over by Liberty Media.
That's according to an article by Reuters.
For several years, DIRECTV marketed TiVo's Digital Video Recording service to its customers, helping TiVo amass roughly half of its 4.3 million subscriber base. DIRECTV-TiVo DVRs include both HD DVRs and standard-definition DVRs.
However, DIRECTV decided in 2005 to stop offering TiVo after Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. purchased control of the company. News Corp. owns a rival DVR service.
While TiVo continues to provide service for existing DIRECTV-TiVo subs, the lack of new satellite subs has dramatically slowed the company's growth.
Noting that Liberty Media will take control of DIRECTV later this year in a stock swap with News Corp., Rogers yesterday said that could be a "positive" for TiVo.
"Liberty is a company that has no ownership interests, now or after the DIRECTV closes, in a competing DVR, and that probably changes things," Rogers told a Deutsche Bank investor conference, according to Reuters.
Rogers even said he knows Liberty officials who are fans of his company's DVR.
"I look at that as a positive in terms of a change of ownership though that deal hasn't closed yet," he said.
When DIRECTV launched its own High-Definition DVR last year, many satellite owners expressed dissatisfaction with the device and called for DIRECTV to once again begin selling TiVo.
However, DIRECTV has worked to eliminate software bugs in the HD DVR, which has largely quieted the critics.
TiVo could certainly benefit from DIRECTV offering its HD DVR to its 16 million subscribers. The company's standalone HD DVR retails for $799, which is far too expensive for most high-def owners.
TiVo has said it plans to release a less expensive HD DVR by the end of the year.
In other issues, TiVo's Rogers said yesterday that he still expects Comcast to begin rolling out its DVR service this August.
"I certainly hope it remains on schedule," said Rogers. "It's largely beyond our control... I can just measure ongoing enthusiasm from Comcast operating people," he told the investors conference, according to Reuters.
He added that Cox Communications will also launch TiVo-enabled Motorola set-tops by the end of the year.
