The Change Mariner

Cable Companies Skip TiVo

Forbes:
Shares of digital video recorder maker Tivo Inc. (nasdaq: TIVO - news - people) on Thursday fell more than 12 percent after a leading cable TV provider said it would develop its own recording system, which may reduce Tivo's chances of striking deals with cable companies.

Analysts said Comcast Corp. (nasdaq: CMCSA - news - people), the No. 1 U.S. cable television provider, announced earlier this week that it would launch "TiVo-like" set-top boxes next year, and added some 90 percent of its subscribers will be offered that service by the end of next year.

Currently, Tivo gains customers to its service through sales of set-top boxes at consumer electronics stores, and via satellite TV provider DirecTV, a division of Hughes Electronics Corp. (nyse: GMH - news - people) It has been trying to link with cable providers, and their millions of subscribers, in an effort to spur growth.

"It is now apparent that the two largest cable (providers) Time Warner Cable (Inc. (nyse: TWX - news - people)), and Comcast, will be skipping out on using Tivo technology and instead develop (video recording) capability of their own," said Sanders Morris Harris analyst David Miller in a note to clients.

Note: We specifically identified the fact over two months ago that the future of Tivo was bleak. TiVo failed to make deals with the cable and satellite companies who have access to over 95% of the homes in the US. Moreover, all of the PC manufacturers and many AGP card manuracturers are offering PVR and Personal Audio Recording (PAR - the ability to time shift radio broadcasts) capability. N.Wada