Rich Fiscus
11 Oct 2007 19:53
After two years of anticipation, U.S. cable television giant Comcast has finally begun installing TiVo based DVRs for test customers. The company intends to continue offering their basic DVR service, which uses non-TiVo hardware, and add the TiVo boxes as a premium DVR service.
Since the 2005 announcement, this deal has been seen as key to TiVo's future. TiVo has previously worked with DirecTV to provide special satellite based DVRs called DirecTiVo, but DirecTV has since decided to go in another direction and provide less expensive DVR boxes.
With DVRs being at the forefront of the battle for customers betwen different television providers, and increases seeming inevitable in the very near future, TiVo is in a position to either form strategic partnerships to grow their business, or falter and become an example of the innovator that couldn't find a workable business model.
Sources:
Associated Press
Reuters