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Technology Events
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TiVo has captured the hearts and minds of America with its DVR service. This webpage highlights events in TiVo's life. $50 Tivos - September 6th, 2005 - TiVo backtracks on their word to stop rebates in favor of profit. This is a good thing and users can get a 40-hour TiVo Series2 DVR for $49.99 after a $150 rebate that goes right to TiVo's bottom line. As I've documented in my report, most of TiVo's losses over the years are related to these rebates. Rebates and losses are what have eaten into TiVo's profits for years. They don't sem to have many options though. Increase the subscriber base is new mantra of TiVo. Go for it. Some analysts have been confused by this about face away from profitability, but it's characteristic of TiVo. They've always been about the technology and changing the world instead of being the most profitable.
Quarterly Profit - August 24th, 2005 - For the first time in the history of TiVo, they report a net profit of $240,000! They promised they'd make money in 2005 for at least one quarter and they came through with a whopping 0.00 earnings per share. This is all funny money anyway and TiVo promises to reduce these profits to losses of $25,000,000 in Q305 to gain subscribers. These losses will be due to rebates that will soon come back. I hail TiVo for taking these bold actions against investors and Wall Street. TiVo is in a tough position and if they need to lose money to gain subscribers, then so be it. TiVo has always been more about the technology than the money. It's not easy going up against the big guys like Scientific Atlanta, DirecTV, Echostar and Motorola. TiVo's like a mouse creeping around between the dinosaurs feet. It doesn't look like these dinosaurs are going to fall though, so TiVo better look at expanding its loyal fan base with some cool new features - like downloading video. TiVo Lands Cable Company - August 23rd, 2005 - TiVo has announced that Cebridge Connections, the 11th largest cable provider in the US, will begin offering 80-hour TiVo Series2 DVRs to 300,000 of its customers. This is a nice win for TiVo and hoepfully it will turn into some subs. TiVo needs to capitalize on their brand name to cable companies like Cebridge to increase their subscriber base. Hopefully, TiVo will be able to offer some of its advanced features to Cebridge customers. DirecTV and ComCast won't let its TiVo subscribers network their DVRs or offer other Series2 advanced features. I bet TiVo gets hamstringed again. Downloading Video - August 15th, 2005 - TiVo has used its clout to obtain content from the Independent Film Channel (IFC). Select subscribers can download three IFC programs. This is good for IFC since it reaches new markets. This is a pilot for TiVo and hopefully a start of something much bigger. If TiVo can provide much more content - and particularly movies, they could have a hit. People have been dreaming about downloading movies for years. If they team up with Netflix, CinemaNow, Starz or many other content sources, people will be very interested in buying TiVo. If they can target many niche markets, like expatriates who are desparate for exotic content, they could turn many oddballs into a profitable business. The power of broadband and the reach fot he Internet enables this and TiVo could profit.
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