© 2010 Rapid TV News
Chris Forrester ©RapidTVNews | 25-11-2009
DVR technology company TiVo is returning to the UK market in an exclusive deal with cable MSO Virgin Media.
Six years ago TiVo exited the UK with its tail somewhat between its legs having seen its then partnership distribution deal with BSkyB end up with Sky pushing its own all-in-one digital video recorder and receiver. This time around TiVo will just supply boxes, not hardware, which Virgin will integrate into its own cable boxes.
The deal was announced by TiVo president Tom Rogers along with the company's latest earnings. "Virgin serves nearly four million customers in the UK, and TiVo will now become the exclusive middleware and user interface provider on its next generation set-top-box platform," says Rogers. "When the new platform becomes available, Virgin subscribers will use the TiVo interface to access what we think will be the UK's most advanced television service package, including a variety of broadband to the TV features. In fact, our market leadership in the development of the seamlessly integrated broadband and linear TV experience was a critical factor in Virgin's decision to partner with TiVo. TiVo will be the exclusive middleware and user interface on next generation boxes. Second, there are substantial minimum commitments associated with this deal. Third, TiVo will be supplying the complete software stack on the Virgin set-top-boxes, which we believe is a more efficient approach to development than some of the more cumbersome architectures used by other operators and keeps with our strategy to avoid engagements that could potentially tie us up in lengthy development projects without near-term deployment opportunity."
"Lastly, this deal also marks the first time TiVo will be providing the interface, not just for DVR platforms, but for traditional, next generation set-top boxes without DVR capability as well."
Naveen Chopra, Tivo's VP/business development and strategy, said the partnership reflected Tivo's attempt to expand its modest international income. TiVo has similar deals in Mexico, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Virgin Media said it would continue to work with Samsung and Scientific-Atlanta for set top box hardware supplies.
But the extra sales are needed. TiVo's numbers continue to slide down. Back in 2007 they were selling 4.4m net new subs in a quarter (the quarter ending Jan 31st of 2007). The latest quarter-year see sales of just 2.7m overall, with 1.5m in hardware form and the balance in terms of software deals with cable companies.
© Rapid TV News 2009
