Learning lessons from TiVo: Don’t make patents your business
Google and Cisco are going to pay TiVo close to $500 million to settle a patent lawsuit – but investors wanted more. What does that tell us about TiVo’s business? Read more »
Ericsson is angling for Microsoft’s Mediaroom IPTV package, report claims
A Bloomberg report claims Microsoft wants to focus more on IPTV delivery through the Xbox platform. Ericsson already provides other IPTV services to hundreds of telcos, so Mediaroom may be a good fit for its portfolio. Read more »
Subscriber Content
The state of cross-platform media measurement
Brand advertising’s focus on cross-platform media measurement has grown dramatically in the past five years. Within the next 36 months cross-platform digital video advertising will standardize, driven by the shift in media dollars to online viewing and the adoption of the Making Measurement Make Sense (3MS) initiative. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Subscriber Content
What the shift to the cloud means for the future EPG
The purpose of the on-screen guide has shifted. By connecting the guide to content-recommendation engines and advertising platforms, service providers and connected-TV device manufacturers are using the EPG as an access point for understanding consumers and reaching out to them to own the living room. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Subscriber Content
Takeaways from connected consumer’s second quarter
Tablets featured prominently in the connected consumer space, both as a product category and as a component of broader platform strategies by major OS providers Microsoft, Google and Apple. Meanwhile Facebook began laying the groundwork to add payment processing to its platform. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
TiVo shifts focus to analytics, pays $20M for TRA
The maker of advanced set-top boxes acquires an audience research company on the leading edge of tying insight into what consumers buy to the advertising they see on television. Read more at paidContent »
Subscriber Content
Social-TV apps and consumer behavior
Social TV is any application, website or software that allows viewers to interact with television programming and share that interaction with others. Startups in this space hope to combine ubiquitous second-screen technology with well-established audience behavior to drive new value around shows. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Subscriber Content
Who and what to watch in the new era of the living room
The adoption of tablets, social media and new interfaces and the changing nature of the TV itself mean the digital living room will continue on its path of rapid change, thanks to new ways of creating, viewing, bundling, distributing and selling content. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Greek debt crisis: there’s an iPad app for that, plus 4 other Apple stories to read today
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web that you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: iPads and the Greek debt crisis, Kaspersky on iOS security, details behind Apple’s Monday stock surge, Apple’s spendy ways when it comes to chips, and TiVo’s iPad arrival. Read more »
New TiVo box takes on Slingbox, streams to tablets
Set-top box maker TiVo has introduced a new Slingbox-like product that lets users stream live- or DVR-recorded TV to tablets, notebooks and smart phones. Read more at paidContent »
Boxee may launch a DVR subscription service
Boxee’s Live TV tuner has been lacking the capability to record any TV programming, but now the startup may be working on its very own subscription service to bring DVR functionality to the Boxee Box. A survey sent out this weekend even included possible pricing. Read more »
Simple.TV: a combination DVR & Slingbox for the cord cutter set
One of the more interesting devices to come out of CES will be Simple.TV, combining some of the best capabilities of TiVo DVRs and Sling streaming set-top boxes. The box, which will be released in Spring 2012, will cost $149 and be aimed at cord cutters. Read more »
TiVo Nets At Least $215 Million From AT&T Patent Settlement
Set-top box maker TiVo (NSDQ: TIVO) announced today that it would rake in hundreds of millions from licensing three of its patents to AT&T (… Read more at paidContent »
$215MM: TiVo cashes in on AT&T settlement
TiVo and AT&T have settled their three-year old DVR patent lawsuit, and the settlement is good news for the DVR maker: AT&T will pay TiVo $215 million over the next seven years. The news comes only months after TiVo secured $500 million from Dish. Read more »
After four years of declines, TiVo adds new customers
TiVo has spent the last several years losing subscribers, dropping to mid-2000s customer levels in the second quarter. But the DVR maker might finally be showing some positive momentum, reporting 117,000 net new customers in its third-quarter earnings report. Read more »
Subscriber Content
Managing infinite choice: the new era of TV user interfaces
In today’s new universe of video content, consumers need more than a five-button remote to effectively navigate the thousands of choices available. Fortunately, the same technology that has made it possible to create so many offerings can also provide the intelligence to help us find what we want to watch. Though it’s not clear which of the new approaches will win, services from Microsoft, Google, Apple, Roku and others are leading the way towards enormous rewards when it comes to the new era of TV interfaces. Additional companies mentioned in this report include Rovi, Technicolor and Hulu. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The BBC wants to be your online TiVo
The BBC’s research and development department launched the prototype for a new form of EPG today that replaces the traditional time-based grid with automatically updated lists. It’s a neat little project, but the way other broadcasters are involved in the site is even more interesting. Read more »
Best Buy tests the connected TV market
Best Buy is treading carefully into the connected TV space, introducing two new models of TVs that rely on a TiVo-powered user interface and Chumby apps for additional content. But savvy buyers might be disappointed by the lack of streaming services available on the new TVs. Read more »
Finding videos on connected TVs is personal
CE manufacturers are creating universal search applications to find content on across platforms. But the Holy Grail for content discovery will be a user interface that lets users find content they’re looking for, while also serve up a stream of videos relevant to their interests. Read more »
Google’s SageTV acquisition: It’s not about the DVR
Google has acquired the DVR software maker SageTV — but don’t expect DVR functionality to come to existing Google TV devices anytime soon. In fact, the acquisition may not be at all about time shifting, but about place shifting and taking the Google TV platform everywhere. Read more »
Who are we kidding? Of course it’s Netflix vs. cable.
Netflix execs may insist publicly that they’re no threat to cable, but there’s plenty of evidence that the company’s subscription service and pay TV offerings are squarely competing for the eye balls and subscription dollars of the very same audience. In other words: It’s on! Read more »
TiVo Finally Adding Hulu Plus, Giving Away 6 Months Free
It looks like TiVo is finally adding Hulu Plus to the list of online video services available through its DVRs. And based on promotional materials spotted in some Best Buy stores, TiVo is offering up six free months of the Hulu Plus service to new customers. Read more »
Comcast’s Xfinity On Demand Finds Its Way Onto TiVo DVRs
TiVo is adding more cable content to its DVRs, announcing a deal to bring Comcast’s Xfinity On Demand library to its menu of options. With 22.8 million subscribers, Comcast provides a huge user base for TiVo to target with a more-integrated DVR offering. Read more »
Dish CEO: Netflix Has an ‘Insurmountable’ Lead in Streaming
Now that Dish owns Blockbuster, it will try to build a profitable business from the ailing video rental store. Digital will be a part of Dish’s plans, but CEO Charlie Ergen said it wouldn’t compete with Netflix, in part because Netflix is already too big. Read more »
Dish, EchoStar Settle TiVo Patent Dispute for $500M
Dish and EchoStar have finally given up fighting against TiVo in the long-running dispute over DVR patents. After a court found Dish would have to replace its customers’ set-top boxes, the satellite TV provider decided it would be cheaper to license TiVo’s intellectual property instead. Read more »
Motorola Takes TiVo to Court Over DVR Patents
Despite losing subscribers over the past several years, TiVo has sought to keep alive through patent infringement suits against IPTV providers AT&T and Verizon. But a new lawsuit filed by Motorola, referencing patents filed before TiVo was founded, could call into question its claims against Verizon. Read more »
Super Bowl XLV Ads: Winners & Losers
Who were the big winners in Super Bowl XLV’s ad blitz? Volkswagen, Doritos and Snickers connected with fans through their 30-second spots during the big game. Meanwhile, ads for tech companies like Salesforce, Groupon and Living Social fell flat. Read more »
Vid-Biz: NBC vs. YouTube, TiVo, Viacom
Today on the Net: NBC explains why it fired the leaker of an old Today Show clip, TiVo wants to help brands measure the effectiveness of their ads for free, and execs are all huffy over Viacom’s deal this week with Hulu. Read more »
Vid-Biz: Cablevision Network DVR, Life In A Day, Microsoft-TiVo
Today on the Net: Cablevision is finally rolling out its network DVR service to select users, National Geographic has picked up YouTube’s Life In a Day for theatrical distribution and Microsoft is trying to block TiVo DVR imports with a U.S. trade complaint. Read more »
No Hulu Plus for Your Cable DVR
Getting a new TiVo Premiere DVR through a lease from your cable company? Then don’t be surprised if it offers you less than the same device sold in stores: Hulu and Netflix aren’t allowed to offer their subscription services on DVRs distributed by cable companies. Read more »
TiVo Bets On Holiday Deals to Stop the Bleeding
TiVo saw its subscriber numbers fall again in its fiscal third quarter, down 464,000 from just a year ago. But the DVR maker hopes that a new holiday pricing promotion with $99 devices can help stem the losses and attract a new set of TiVo users. Read more »
Vid-Biz: TiVo, AOL, Silverlight
Today on the Net: TiVo continues to lose users and is down to 2.3 million subscribers, AOL has created a new video division led by 5min CEO Ran Harnevo and Microsoft is looking to add Silverlight to the Xbox 360 for app development. Read more »
TiVo Unveils Its Own DVR-Controlling iPad App
TiVo is unveiling a new iPad app designed to allow owners of its new Premiere DVRs to search and navigate their programming from the Apple tablet. But TiVo’s iPad app follows a number of pay TV operators’ apps, which work with their DVRs. Read more »
Is the ‘Free’ DVR TiVo’s Last Stand?
What do you do when you’re a consumer electronics company that depends on subscription revenue and you’re hemorrhaging subscribers? If you’re TiVo, you give your box away for free and you hope to make up for lost revenues over the life of a more expensive contract. Read more »
Subscriber Content
Report: The Connected TV Marketplace
The television business is on the cusp of the biggest technological upheaval since the introduction of cable TV. The addition of Internet connectivity to living room devices will enable new functionality around programming services, program discovery, social networking, ad targeting and measurement — aspects of the TV viewing experience that have remained largely unchanged for decades. These trends have the potential to become the foundation for new economic models around how viewers pay for video service and how program creation is financed. In this report, we examine the leading contenders’ strategic positioning, relative strengths and weaknesses, and provide the early line on their odds of success. Companies mentioned include Google, Apple, Boxee, Roku, Vudu, Samsung, Microsoft and Sony. To see a full list of companies and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Vid-Biz: Fox-Cablevision, Time Warner Cable, TiVo Pricing
Today on the Net: FCC chairman Genachowski calls out Fox and Cablevision for spending more time attacking each other than negotiating, Time Warner Cable is building a CDN for distribution of VOD content and TiVo has extended its $20 a month, no upfront cost pricing plan. Read more »
Vid-Biz: Google TV Ads, Justin.TV, Netgear-Roku
Today on the Net: Google and NBC Universal give up on their two-year old Google TV partnership, Justin.TV’s chief business officer leaves a week after the VP of product departed and Netgear is selling co-branded Roku boxes at Fry’s. Read more »
U.S. Patent Office Backs TiVo in Dish/EchoStar Fight
The PTO reaffirmed TiVo’s Time Warp Patent, striking a blow against Dish and EchoStar today. The patent office’s ruling, which TiVo says is final and not appealable, enforced the patent at the center of a legal fight between the DVR maker and the satellite TV provider. Read more »
DVR Cuts Into Broadcast Ratings By 15-20%
Broadcast TV audiences have been shrinking for years, due in part to the proliferation of online video content as well as ever-improving cable programming. But one cause of the precipitous drop in live TV audiences is the growth of DVR usage among TV viewers. Read more »
Hulu Plus Definitely Coming to Roku and TiVo
Today, Roku is officially confirming that a Hulu Plus channel will be available on the set-top box later this fall. In addition, TiVo has announced that they too will be teaming with Hulu to provide Hulu Plus access to TiVo Premiere subscribers. Read more »
