Advanced Television

TiVo exits own STB business

May 11, 2018

By Chris Forrester

TiVo says it is exiting its own manufacturing, sales and distribution of set-top boxes to a yet-undisclosed third party.

CEO Enrique Rodriguez, talking to analysts on its Q1 earnings call, said that consumers would continue to see TiVo-branded boxes in the retail sector, and specifically mentioned outlets such as Best Buy and Amazon. “Once we complete this transition, we still will have direct consumer hardware sales through TiVo.com which we will be fulfilling through this box manufacturer.”

Rovi Corp acquired TiVo in 2016 and Rodriguez said that synergies had already topped $100 million of its $110 million targeted savings from the combination.

Q1 revenues were $189.9 million, with core revenues up $9.7 million (5.9 per cent). Product revenues were $116.9 million, up 2 per cent year-on-year.

Rodriguez told analysts that its traditional markets consist of consumer electronics, or CE manufacturers, and Pay TV Service Providers. “The emerging markets for us are Virtual Service Providers, Content, and New Media Companies, as well as Advertisers. These are the areas that we believe will drive TiVo’s future growth.”

He added that TiVo had expanded its patent agreement with Google in Q1 to include YouTube TV. Additionally, KDDI renewed their OTT service agreement with TiVo in Japan. “In Asia, we added Telstra Corp as a licensee in Australia and renewed our IP licence deal with Alticast in Korea. In Europe, we added the number two service provider in a major European country as a customer under a six-year licence arrangement. This comes on top of renewing eight service providers in Europe last year.”

Rodrigues said that TiVo was still litigating against Comcast over patents. “I am confident that Comcast will ultimately be licensed to use our intellectual property for the benefit of their business and their consumers.”

 

 

 

 

Categories: Articles, Business, In Home, PVR, Results, STB