Working with cable operators rather than around them seems to be working for TiVo. While some consumers might be willing to buy their own standalone DVR box, most prefer to let their cable provider include and install. Building set top deals with these distributors has enabled TiVo to roll out more and more boxes.
"The DVR company added 222,000 net new customers through cable partners during the period, its fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, to reach 2.12 million. It lost 13,000 TiVo-owned subs to stand at 1.03 million. ... TiVo’s biggest MSO customer by far is Virgin Media in the U.K., which added nearly 900,000 net TiVo subs in 2012 to reach 1.3 million total, or 35% of its video-subscriber base." Ultimately, that led to a healthy increase in revenue for the company.
While internationally TiVo appears to be doing well, they must still solidify their Virgin Media relationship now that Liberty is acquiring Virgin. Domestically, TiVo still has work to do to get into the leading cable operators like Time Warner Cable and Comcast. As the Mercedes of set top boxes, they deserve to be offered by cable operators to their subscribers.
