TiVo hit by DirecTV decision on PVR
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TiVo, the US pioneer of the personal video recorder (PVR), has been rocked by the announcement that US satellite broadcaster DirecTV is to stop marketing its products in October. That's when DirecTV will introduce its own PVR as the market for digital recording technology heats up.
In January, DirecTV chief executive Chase Carey said the broadcaster would launch its own, NDS-developed PVR in 2005 in order to make DirecTV "even more appealing". DirecTV was expected to sell its own PVR alongside TiVo's. But Carey told a New York media conference this week: "The product we will market is our product."
The news caused shares in TiVo to fall more than 6%. The company has relied heavily on DirecTV for the early phase of its business—of its 3.3m subscribers, 2.1m came via DirecTV. TiVo would not comment on DirecTV's announcement, but executives have long realised the need to broaden its relationships with other pay-TV operators.
In March, TiVo signed a multi-year deal to offer a tailored PVR to US cable operator Comcast's subscribers. The deal—followed earlier this month by an agreement to supply its technology to members of the National Cable Television Co-operative, a US group that boasts more than 1,100 independent cable operators—was seen as a breakthrough for TiVo in the much-prized cable sector.
TiVo has also developed a strategy to allow subscribers to transfer their recorded programmes to portable media centres and PCs.
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