Is TiVo a dead or dying company?

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Not so sure about the paying part for cable. My Altice bill is $210/month. Of that around $40 is for sports I don't watch. There is no OTA here.

The cable card stuff is a direct and immediate threat to Tivo, but I think the longer term threat is that cable tv is itself dying by its own hand, and they are tied to cable.

 

If you’re referring to the TiVo stream they’re way behind. TiVo wasn’t a big name over the past 5-10 years. With fire sticks, Apple TV, Roku that are more well known already own those customers. They’re way behind. And once customers can’t get the cable companies to service cable cards then it’s more loss of business too.

 

(Yes, I was referring to the TiVo Stream product EDIT: Actually the TiVo Stream 4k — the one that’s a dongle.)
Agreed, and I doubt TiVo has the technical team to compete in the streamer arena, and since they’re so far behind I would assume it’s very difficult to attract such a team. But I’m just speculating here.

 

Has been for more than a decade and just getting worse as cable cos are getting more recalcitrant to support them.

However I don’t think a lot of TiVo owners realize what a hassle a Tuning Adapter (TA) can be. I never had trouble with my CableCARD during the ten years I used a digital TiVo (2009 - 2019), but the required TA was a continual PITA, and was never properly supported by TWC/Spectrum. The TA box (Cisco) is as big as a TiVo Roamio and uses more power, but the real problem was its poor reliability, which never was improved. At best, it needed to be power-cycled about once a month when all channels were lost. At worst, other users have reported having to put it on a timer to be automatically power-cycled once every day!

 

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TiVo Stream
TiVo Stream 4K

 

I meant the 4K dongle deal.

 

I started using my Tivo Roamio OTA with lifetime service shortly after we cut the cable cord. Can't believe that we didn't part ways with cable TV YEARS ago. Only programs we recorded with the cable dvr were network or PBS programs--really don't watch sports nor do I find cable news networks relevant or informative--I think my anxiety level throughout the past 4 years as well as the pandemic is pretty minimal since I do not partake CNN, MSNBC, PBS news, or even OTA news.

I put an amplified antenna in the attic (around $30 on Amazon) and we get a bunch of OTA channels (we live on very flat terrain and are within 30 miles of most of the transmitters). Have it set to record some TV series as well as the occasional PBS programs. I find the Roamio OTA perfect for my needs--it's not as intuitive or slick as the cable company's DVR, but considering that there is no monthly fee and there really isn't any other real alternative that works as well for OTA I am satisfied.

Have been watching a lot of streaming shows this year on Amazon and Netflix as well as free stuff on Roku channel and others. May need to sign up for something like Philo once the Fixer upper folks launch their Magnolia channel (that was a condition of my cutting the cord).

It isn't completely true that we have cut the cable, our internet (just bare internet) is provisioned by a cable company--but we are paying about 1/3 as much for internet and streaming than when we had bundled TV and cable (and the monthly dvr/extra receiver fees). Penciling it out, just the savings that we get by cutting out cable TV more than pays for a new TIVO OTA system with lifetime service in a very short time.

I am hoping that TIVO continues to provide products for OTA recording enthusiasts--I think there isn't as much competition in the OTA recording market as opposed to the streaming market--our older BluRay players as well as both of our TVs have built in streamers which have made our Amazon fire stick and Roku boxes redundant.

 

At the beginning of the year Discovery+ will be launching a new streaming service that will include Food, History, HGTV, DYI,Magnolia, and a few other channels for @ $7.00 month commercial free and $5.00 month with commercials. Sounds like a good selection if you enjoy these.

 

Thank you for the tip! Great find! Looks like cutting the cord has become even less expensive! Glad you let me know before I signed up for Philo.The website says it will launch January 4th--will see when they start the signups.

 

You’re very welcome! I am very seriously thinking of cutting the cord also. My wife and I watch mostly over the air and streaming services and are tired of paying for all of the channels that we never watch. We are lucky to be in a great area for reception except for PBS out of Boston which just went on a low VHF band. I can update my antenna to one of the giant channel master series to pull it in, or just donate $5.00 per month to access all of their programs and the PBS library. Once my contract is done with Verizon I am pretty sure I am going to make the move.... Happy holidays!!

 

We fired Spectrum in September. No regrets. Their bill for TV and Internet was $187 a month.

Replacement was a lifetime OTA for $249, Philo at $20 a month because we like BBC news, and AT&T gigabit fiber Internet for $71 a month. The OTA picture is much better than compressed cable, gigabit fiber is *fantastic*, and we have no shortage of stuff to watch.

Our favorite local channel broadcasts on channel 9 VHF and was kind of tricky to pick up, but a Winegard 7550 ($49) mounted outside does the job.
-- Doug

 

Thanks for your feedback.... I am in pretty good shape for cord cutting also. We have a Bolt and Roamio 4 tuners with cable and over the air capability and minis also. Unfortunately our PBS station out of Boston is on low VHF 5 (channel 2 but broadcasting on 5) and could be a little challenging to pick up but by no means impossible with a decent antenna. Verizon in our area is offering 200 up and down with no caps for $39.00/month which is more than enough for us. We really like our TiVo and want to keep using them as long as possible.

 

I was fed up with the high cost and monopolistic behavior of pay TV in general and cut the cord as soon as I found the Roamio. I'm sad that TiVo seems to be on the way out as the new Edge seems to be some kind of capitulation to the market. They want to kill OTA TV (they being the entertainment oligarchies) and make all TV pay Tv in some way. I love streaming, because it allows for the best value for my entertainment dollar, but I'm ready to shitcan all TV watching if I'm forced to pay for it by lobbyists.

I'll be happy reading books and spinning records.

 

The way ATSC 3.0 is developing, some OTA channels will have pay TV and user tracking too. Those features will work when the OTA tuner is connected to the Internet.

 

Oh man, that is awful. It used to be that the competing providers would keep our costs lower by having us switch from one to the other. But that would usually only last for awhile, then they didn't care about giving any more deals. Now they don't even do that. They all have those expensive sports contracts that the viewers have to pay for.

 

Actually TiVo’s customer base pays $150/year per device. Their business model was all about building a base of loyal customers. It’s just that they can’t control an essential part of the delivery: cable TV access.

 

That's true. I guess folks are less dependent on hardware these days though then they were in the past.. Tivo is going to have it tough.
For example Channels DVR 's software that you download on computer has in its system section a TV-everywhere beta option. That (along with a HDhoerun tuner box) lets a person record some live channels off SlingTV, Philo, and YTTV onto a hard drive on the computer or some NAS brands.. It has a list of local cable-TV systems that have tv Everywhere access to their individual channels over-the-air included in their cable-tv package. I dropped cable-tv because of expense, but can't beat cable-tv for ease of enjoyment. thanks.

 

A good Comcast story: Comcast just tried to raise my rate from $115 to $160/mo on the expiration of the 2 year promo I had. I called and told them no deal - do better. I explained that CenturyLink just put fiber in the street and is offering lifetime gig internet for $65. He asked me what channels are important to us so I gave him a list and also said I do NOT want to pay the $8.25++ 'sports fee' as we watch NO sports whatsoever and they're welcome to block them. It took a few minutes on hold but he came back with all the channels we want, NO sports fee and the same 200MB 'Blast' internet for $94/mo including taxes and fees. In my 20 years with Comcast this is the first time they offered me a package with all the channels I watch and agreed to eliminate the ripoff sports fee. Maybe they're finally getting the message and feeling the burn from having competition. We have Peacock Premium (free from Comcast on Roku), Amazon Prime (which we'd have anyway), Netflix for $15 and a Roku so we have more than we'd ever have time to watch. I have my own modem and router so there's no rental fees. The only thing from them is the free Cablecard for the Roamio Plus.

 

Good job! I have to call Comcast every two years myself. Always like to hear how everyone else is bargaining.