TiVo Inc.

TiVo Inc. was an American corporation whose primary product was its eponymous digital video recorder. TiVo primarily operated in the United States, but also operated in Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and Western Europe.[2] On September 8, 2016, TiVo Inc. was acquired by Rovi Corporation. The new entity became known as TiVo Corporation, which in turn, merged with Xperi in December 2019.[3]

TiVo Inc.
FormerlyTeleworld inc. (1997-1999)
TypePublic
IndustryDigital video recorders
FateAcquired by Rovi Corporation
SuccessorTiVo Corporation
FoundedAugust 4, 1997 (1997-08-04)
FoundersJim Barton
Mike Ramsay
DefunctSeptember 8, 2016 (2016-09-08)
(19 years, 35 days)
Headquarters
San Jose, California
,
United States
Key people
Tom Rogers (CEO)
ProductsTiVo DVR
Revenue US$ 406 Million[1] (2014)
US$ 271.8 Million [1] (2014)
Number of employees
630 [1] (2014)
Websitetivo.com

History

TiVo Inc. is a company that was incorporated on August 4, 1997, as "Teleworld, Inc." by Jim Barton and Mike Ramsay, former employees at Silicon Graphics and Time Warner's Full Service Network digital video system.[4] Originally intending to create a home network device, they later developed the idea to record digitized video on a hard disk for a monthly service, at the suggestion of Randy Komisar.[5] The original TiVo device digitized and compressed analog video from any source.[4]

Teleworld began the first public trials of the TiVo device and service in late 1998 in the San Francisco Bay area.[6]

Teleworld, Inc. renamed itself to TiVo Inc. on July 21, 1999, and made its IPO (Initial Public Offering) on September 30, 1999.[4]

In late 2000, Philips Electronics introduced the DSR6000, the first DirecTV receiver with an integrated TiVo DVR.[4] This new device, nicknamed the DirecTiVo, stored digital signals sent from DirecTV directly onto a hard disk.[7]

In early 2000, TiVo also partnered with electronics manufacturer Thomson and broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting to deliver the TiVo service in the UK market.[8] This partnership resulted in the Thomson PVR10UK, a stand-alone receiver released in October 2000. In January 2003, After poor sales, TiVo pulled out of the UK market.[9]

On January 27, 2004, TiVo announced the acquisition of Strangeberry Inc., a Palo Alto-based technology company specializing in using home network and broadband technologies to create new entertainment on television.[10]

In 2004, TiVo sued EchoStar Corp, a manufacturer of DVR units, for patent infringement. The parties reached a settlement in 2011 wherein EchoStar paid TiVo a licensing fee for its technology.[11]

In June 2005, Tom Rogers, a TiVo board member since 1999, was named president and chief executive officer of TiVo Inc.[12]

In 2006, TiVo, Inc. won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Innovation and Achievement in Advanced Media Technology.[4] TiVo was again awarded an Emmy in 2013 for Technical and Engineering Achievement for Personalized Recommendation Engines for Video Discovery.[13]

On November 25, 2009, TiVo re-entered the UK market by announcing a partnership with UK cable company Virgin Media.[14] By 2012, TiVo services had become a part of 18% of Virgin's TV customer base. By the end of 2013, TiVo was installed in 2 million (52%) of all Virgin TV's subscribers.[15]

On January 19, 2010, Microsoft filed a lawsuit against TiVo, Inc. for patent infringement.[16] TiVo had also filed a lawsuit against Microsoft for patent infringement. The companies agreed to end their respective lawsuits in March 2012.[17]

On July 17, 2012, TiVo announced the acquisition of TRA, Inc., an audience measurement company that measures advertising effectiveness.[18]

On January 29, 2014, TiVo announced the acquisition of Digitalsmiths, a cloud-based content discovery and recommendation service for pay TV.[19]

In March, 2015, TiVo purchased the assets of Aereo, a technology company that allowed subscribers to view live and time-shifted streams of over-the-air television on Internet-connected devices, for $1 million.[20]

On April 29, 2016, Rovi announced that it had acquired TiVo Inc. for $1.1 billion, and that the combined company would operate under the TiVo brand.[21][22] On September 8, 2016, the acquisition by Rovi Corporation was completed.

On December 19, 2019, TiVo and Xperi announced they had entered into a definitive merger agreement in an all-stock transaction, representing approximately $3 billion of combined enterprise value. The combined company's value creation plan will focus on integrating the companies’ respective product and IP licensing businesses.[23]

See also

References
  1. "Tivo Reports Results for the Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year Ended January 31, 2014". TiVo. February 26, 2014.
  2. "In which countries is the TiVo Service available?". TiVo. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  3. Gartenberg, Chaim (2019-12-19). "TiVo to merge with Xperi to create "one of the largest licensing companies in the world"". The Verge. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
  4. Asselin, Kristine Carlson (2012-09-01). TiVo: The Company and Its Founders. ABDO Publishing Company. ISBN 9781614801849.
  5. Komisar, Randy. The Monk and the Riddle. ISBN 9781578516445.
  6. Jim Davis (December 22, 1998). "TiVo launches "smart TV" trial". CNET.
  7. "DirecTV's TiVo ready to return December 8th in a few markets". Engadget. Retrieved 2019-08-28.
  8. Robert Holmes (June 27, 1999). "THOMSON multimedia Chosen by BskyB and TiVo to Launch the UK'S First Personal Video Recorder". PR Newswire.
  9. Matthew Broersma (February 5, 2003). "TiVo switches off UK sales". ZDNet.
  10. "TiVo Acquires Strangeberry". Silicon Valley Business Journal. January 24, 2004.
  11. Steven Russolillo (May 3, 2011). "Dish, EchoStar Settle TiVo Patent Litigation". The Wall Street Journal.
  12. Emily Church (June 27, 2005). "TiVo taps Tom Rogers as CEO". MarketWatch.
  13. Jeff Baumgartner (August 12, 2013). "TW Cable, TiVo Join Tech Emmy Haul". Multichannel News.
  14. Emma Barnett (March 4, 2010). "TiVo's UK launch could 'make British television personal'". The Daily Telegraph.
  15. http://investors.virginmedia.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=135485&p=irol-newsarticle&ID=1899958
  16. "Microsoft Corporation v. TiVo, Inc". RFC Express. January 19, 2010.
  17. Darren Murph (March 22, 2012). "Microsoft and TiVo agree to drop ongoing patent suits, we ask the world to follow". Engadget.com.
  18. Bill Carter (July 16, 2012). "TiVo to Buy Company That Tracks Shopping of TV Viewers". The New York Times.
  19. Jeff Baumgartner (January 29, 2014). "TiVo To Buy Digitalsmiths For $135 Million". Multichannel News.
  20. Perez, Sarah (13 March 2014). "TiVo Receives Approval To Acquire Aereo Assets". TechCrunch. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  21. "From TV trailblazer to IP afterthought: TiVo bought for $1.1 billion". Ars Technica. Conde Nast Digital. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  22. "Rovi Buys TiVo in $1.1 Billion Deal". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  23. Spangler, Todd (2019-12-19). "TiVo to Merge With Entertainment-Tech Firm Xperi in $3 Billion Deal". Variety. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
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