TiVo, the company whose name was once synonymous with DVR (digital video recorder) technology, has been fighting an uphill battle for the past decade or so as pay TV providers have integrated their own DVR features and streaming services have made cord cutting an increasingly viable option.
The company’s next play was expected to be a plan split into two companies: one that focused on licensing intellectual property, and another that focused on the products TiVo is known for.
Now it looks like that plan is out the window — TiVo has instead entered into a $3 billion merger with Xperi.
The combined company will be known as Xperi, but the TiVo brand will live on in the DVR hardware and software that the company will continue to offer.
Other Xperi brands include DTS (audio) and IMAX Enhanced (home video). but the company is predominantly in the business of licensing IP and technology to others… which is where it seems TiVo comes into the picture.
Between TiVo and Xperi, the new company will own more than 10,000 patents, which gives it a pretty strong footing for its licensing business.
Whether we’ll see much continued innovation from TiVo in terms of hardware or software products remains to be seen — but it’s kind of hard to compete with the cable company DVR you already have or the streaming products you can pick up for dirt cheap from Roku, Amazon, or Google.
Then again, maybe TiVo Xperi’s not trying to compete for that business, so much as remain relevant in the age of online video. A few months ago, TiVo CEO Dave Shull said that the company would be launching its own $50 Android TV streaming dongle in 2020… although it remains to be seen whether the company is still on track to do that.
via Variety, Hollywood Reporter, and Cord Cutters News
Is the split off the table?
Or will TiVo and Xperi just split, leaving TiVo IP deals with Xperi.
I would look at it this way, instead of selling the IP part of TiVo in six months. They have sold it to Xperi right now. And the split will happen anyway.
Fun fact: If it weren’t for TiVo, Liliputing might not exist. My first paid blogging gig was writing for the now-defunct PVR Wire, a website that originally covered DVR news and tips. From there, I went on to write for sister sites TV Squad and Download Squad before deciding to launch my own websites covering little computers after the launch of the Asus Eee PC.
But what drew me to DVR blogging in the first place was a hand-me-down TiVo that I got from a coworker in 2004. With enough hard drive space for 20 hours of recordings, it changed the way we chose what to watch in our household, and when we watched it. From there, I went on to build my own PC-based DVRs which we continued to use up until a few years ago when we went all-in on streaming.
Then I finally have a reason to be glad TiVo exists. Thanks for the story.
I didn’t have a DVR until about a year and a half ago when I got DirecTv service and even their basic receiver has a DVR function built in. I haven’t used it but my elderly mother does and it must be relatively simple to use for her to do so. I wonder how long the HDD will last in that application but I already know how to replace one so as long as she doesn’t have anything that she needs to keep long-term it should be an easy repair.