Digital video recorder maker TiVo and DirecTV will develop a high-definition DVR featuring TiVo service for customers of the No. 1 U.S. satellite service, marking an extension of their business relationship that began eight years ago.
TiVo plans to build the set-top box, which would be used by DirecTV’s broadband-enabled customers, as early as next July, the companies said in a statement this week. Financial terms of the non-exclusive agreement weren’t disclosed.
TiVo’s trying to boost sales by signing agreements to provide DVRs for multichannel service operators such as DirecTV, U.S. cable TV leader Comcast and No. 3 cable company Cox Communications.
TiVo last week reported a profit for its most recently completed quarter despite little change in company-owned subscriptions. It turned the profit by cutting marketing costs involved with giving away set-top boxes.
“We look forward to launching a next-generation product that uses TiVo’s latest features to truly showcase DirecTV’s broad selection of high-definition programming,” TiVo Chief Executive Officer Tom Rogers said in a statement. “This agreement demonstrates our continued embrace of mass distribution opportunities in cooperation with major multichannel operators.”
Last August, TiVo launched its TiVo HD, which retails for $299 and can store either 20 hours of HD content or 180 hours of standard-definition content without additional hard drives. Comcast this year started offering TiVo set-top boxes to its New England area customers, while Cox will start a similar promotion later this year.
DirecTV started selling DVRs with TiVo service in 2000. Two years ago, the companies began cross-marketing their products through advertisements. DirecTV hasn’t set pricing for the new set-top box.
DirecTV gained 129,000 subscribers during the second quarter to bring its base to more than 17 million. Competitor Dish Networks, which has about 14 million customers and has been embroiled in litigation with TiVo, said its second-quarter subscriber base shrunk slightly, the first quarterly subscriber drop among U.S. satellite television companies.