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Tivo Bolt OTA - monthly fee

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O

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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Hey guys, how much do y'all pay for monthly service?
I have a TIVO Bolt OTA and I noticed on the Tivo site the monthly fee is $6.99 and I've been paying $14.99 since 2016! WTF
That and the spam before my recordings start has to go, not looking good for Tivo, time to start looking for alternatives.
 
krkaufman

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#3 ·
"spam" are referred to as "pre-roll ads" and there's a thread somewhere abouts explaining what to do to get them removed. (I believe by calling TiVo Customer Service and asking them to remove them.)

$7 is the retail rate for a monthly service subscription for one of their OTA-only DVRs, but your rate may have been different owing to some other promotion at the time of purchase.
 
ThAbtO

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#4 ·
Paying monthly is TOO much! Even if you are paying 6.99, Tivo ended the Multi-service discounts.
If you do the math, $15 x 12 months = $180 x 5 years = $900
In the long run, Lifetime is cheaper @ $550
 
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krkaufman

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#7 ·
O

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Discussion Starter · #9 ·
Straight out of my billing history:
Billed 07/25/2016 TiVo Bundle, 1 Year, Monthly $14.99 $1.05 $16.04
Billed 07/25/2016 TiVo BOLT 500 GB $199.99 $14.00 $213.99
Didn't realize the regular Bolt did OTA, would have gotten the OTA only version - fairly certain the OTA version was released afterwards.
 
M

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#10 ·
No doubt a bolt+.

As for the wisdom of lifetime. Alternative viewpoint here. Firstly even in the past the product life cycle for the TiVo DVRs generally is less than 5 years. Or should I say upgrade life cycle. Then you are at the mercy of TiVo to offers transfer of your service for a “discounted” rate. Paying annually instead nets you 3yrs and 8months for the same $550.
Given the above and the apparent de-emphasis on the hardware/traditional DVR service in favor of apps and streaming makes me feel like the annual plan is the way to go right now.
 
krkaufman

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#11 ·
mde8965 said:
No doubt a bolt+.
Click to expand...
Not ... given the OP is tuning OTA. (And the BOLT+ was a 6-tuner CableCARD-only model.)

olimazi said:
Didn't realize the regular Bolt did OTA, would have gotten the OTA only version - fairly certain the OTA version was released afterwards.
Click to expand...
You would have needed to get the Roamio OTA, at that time, as the OTA-only BOLT OTA wouldn't be released for 2 more years. Though, I don't believe that the $8/mo monthly subscription rate became available until the release of the BOLT OTA.

Sidebar: The new EDGE series DVRs lack a combo/either-or model similar to your BOLT. One must choose between cable and OTA at purchase.
 
krkaufman

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#12 ·
mde8965 said:
Paying annually instead nets you 3yrs and 8months for the same $550.
Given the above and the apparent de-emphasis on the hardware/traditional DVR service in favor of apps and streaming makes me feel like the annual plan is the way to go right now.
Click to expand...
The value of the box at the end of that window of time matters to many of those choosing Lifetime/All-In.
 
pfiagra

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#14 ·
mde8965 said:
Ok regular bolt then.

And I see the value of the equipment in resale with lifetime vs annual, but nowadays I'm not entirely sure the TiVo DVR will be worth anything 4 years from now
Click to expand...
But you only need to find one buyer that thinks there is value for a few years, even if you do not.
 
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M

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#15 ·
pfiagra said:
But you only need to find one buyer that thinks there is value for a few years, even if you do not.
Click to expand...
You misunderstand what I'm saying. I love TiVo. And I truly hope in 4 years they are still going strong. But what I fear is that the Edge is the last hardware model they will put out. TiVo will continue to support the box until it's too antiquated to work. But it won't work forever. I fear their new model will focus on streaming (TiVo stream), and they will quietly and slowly exit from the DVR business all together. At which time or when the Edge is too old, slow whatever to work, will make all TiVo hardware useless and worthless.

I hope I'm wrong and I'm just feeling like Henny Penny right now...
 
DaveB673

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#17 ·
mde8965 said:
You misunderstand what I'm saying. I love TiVo. And I truly hope in 4 years they are still going strong. But what I fear is that the Edge is the last hardware model they will put out. TiVo will continue to support the box until it's too antiquated to work. But it won't work forever. I fear their new model will focus on streaming (TiVo stream), and they will quietly and slowly exit from the DVR business all together. At which time or when the Edge is too old, slow whatever to work, will make all TiVo hardware useless and worthless.

I hope I'm wrong and I'm just feeling like Henny Penny right now...
Click to expand...
I agree. I still want to see them going strong in 4 years. Especially since I just jumped into the TiVo boat.
 
HerronScott

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#18 ·
mde8965 said:
As for the wisdom of lifetime. Alternative viewpoint here. Firstly even in the past the product life cycle for the TiVo DVRs generally is less than 5 years. Or should I say upgrade life cycle. Then you are at the mercy of TiVo to offers transfer of your service for a "discounted" rate. Paying annually instead nets you 3yrs and 8months for the same $550.
Click to expand...
I guess for some the upgrade cycle is less than 5 years but for us it's been 7 years (S1 to S3) and then 8 years (S3 to Roamio) and we've been using the Roamio for 5 years this year and at the moment I see no reason to upgrade. So lifetime/All-in service has worked for us especially as we've been able to get transfer and upgrade discounts when we've purchased new units so we only paid full price on the first 2 S1's back in 2000.

Scott
 
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ThAbtO
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