Watching the TiVo Effect

[Chris Gohlke]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.toptechnews.com/news/Watching-the-TiVo-Effect/story.xhtml?story_id=013001B3CRPB' target='_blank'>http://www.toptechnews.com/news/Watching-the-TiVo-Effect/story.xhtml?story_id=013001B3CRPB</a><br /><br /></div><i>"S&amp;P believes the TiVo effect will be felt beyond the company's shares. The increasingly popular use of DVRs could shift the promising fundamentals of media and advertising companies. "Although we do not think the industry has a clear understanding of the impact TiVo will have on how people watch TV, what needs to be determined is the effectiveness of advertisers' reach -- with and without TiVo," Peters says."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/tivo-dvr-television-iptv-digital_entertainment_ttn.jpg" /> <br /><br />If you are a stock trader, you will definitely find this piece interesting even if it does provide more questions than answers. What I found interesting was that 9% of households have a TiVo. I found that surprisingly high. Most of the people I know with DVR's have either a non-TiVo DVR (most with DVD recorders like mine) or a Comcast DVR. So, time for a survey:

[nitestrike]

There are a lot of the TiVo could be from DirecTV boxes out there. Inaddition TiVo has evolved, like Kleenex and Coke, from a brand into a category; people could be putting down TiVo even though they have some other form of DVR. As a side note I have both a TiVo and a WinMCE box.

[Chris Gohlke]

You are right. I just reread the story and it is pretty clear that they are referring to any DVR, not just TiVo.

[gibb193a]

A couple of years ago I had a TiVo and loved it (like most TiVo owners). I was itching to buy an HD TV. When I saw that TiVo didn't have an HD version in the near future (and the price of whatever they come up with would be prohibitive) and Time-Warner offered an HD DVR / cable box, I reluctantly sold the TiVo, bought the HD TV and got the cable HD DVR.

I think TiVo missed a great opportunity. Everyone I know who used it, loved it. If they sold the software to the cable companies, they probably would be doing better than they are today.