You see I live in a world where all digital cable channels except broadcast are copy never. That was not so bad when my cableCARDs always mysteriously tuned channels that were digital simulcast to their analog versions, but now my cableCARDs have been brought into the spirit of the modern digital cable era.  Thus all my nice series off SciFi and whatever else can not be MRV’d. This is especially acute since my recorded content heavily shifted to digital cable due to the writers strike.

As my poor TiVoes are being thrown back to the era before MRV and my home network grows increasingly useless, is TiVo doing anything about this? Is anyone? Copy Flag rules were written to the extreme detriment of the consumer, and even the content provider who does not seem to have control over their content’s transfer rights. The cable companies are in complete control. Few noticed much perhaps because there was no significant force to complain. I exist amongst a handful of TiVo users that this affects and apparently TiVo didn’t see the problem or has been too busy fighting and compromising on other fronts and couldn’t forestall this clamp down of one of their major differentiating features.

My next beef is SDV. Where is the thingy? I bet it is no where to be seen. Now I get to record/watch far less of the content I pay for from the cable company than before; of course my rates have gone up to compensate the cable co for all those wonderful additional channels they provide which my TiVoes can’t pick up. I am very close to the point of asking for a rate reduction based on SDV and cableCARD use. SDV is a wonderful technology which the cable cos should be deploying for the benefit of customers in general, however individual customers that can not get the content should not be charged for it. That is only fair, and should be factored into the business decisions of the cable cos. (There are so few cableCARD users, that it won’t change anything.) This will be an individual battle though, because there are so few of us. Maybe if a few tens of thousands of complaints are raised with the cable cos and FCC some general policy will issue.

This article reflects that I haven’t followed what has been happening for about three months, and maybe I’ll poke around and see something significant has happended to make these complaints unimportant.

TiVo´s CMO is gone already, just 9 months after his arrival. I am not sure if he stayed longer than the CFO (the last “permanent” CFO,) but it seems things are going so well ( :p ) at TiVo, Inc. that people just can´t wait to leave. Richardson made a couple minor changes to the subscription plans that I approved of, but this indicates things are going poorly over at TiVo, Inc. While I had reservations about him, and frankly don´t know if it was him or TiVo, I put my money down on the side of Richardson running screaming from the loony bin. Can´t (don´t want to) imagine what this means for the progress of CableSoft or international efforts, let alone the SA business. Let´s just say if there was some meat to be had off the bone, he probably would not have left after just 9 months. 

Multichannel News has a statement from TiVo:

In a statement, TiVo said, “Clent’s departure from TiVo was an amicable one, and we have a strong team in place to implement the firm’s marketing initiatives.”

Amicable as in they didn´t kill each other? :p Well, we all know just how STRONG TiVo´s marketing team is, don´t we…

Last month, TiVo CEO Tom Rogers said the DVR company will “maintain our more limited spend on marketing while we assess the speed with which consumers recognize the value and importance of broadband distribution of digital video.”

So, there you go. Actually, I suspect Richardson just might have been the adult in the room that pulled the plug on last year´s disasterous marketing campaign and spend. So what happens next? Sugar Mountain is open for business again?

First, certain DISH DVRs found to infringe on certain of TiVo´s patents are the subject of an Injunction which orders that those models no longer be put into service and that the DVR functionality on the ones already in service be disabled no more than 30 days after the injunction takes effect. Initially DISH was found to infringe on both hardware and software claims, but an Appeals Court ruling eliminated the hardware claims for now, leaving only software infringement.

During the appeals process, the injunction had been stayed by the Appeals Court, but that stay is over and the injunction is now in effect. One point of confusion is whether the 30 days ran during the stay. DISH´s actions at this point imply they believe the 30 days did not run, and thus DISH has so far only taken steps to stop the deployment of the subject DVRs, but has not yet disabled the DVR functions in active units. I tend to agree with this because for the 30 days to have run would have undermined the authority of the Appeals Court; that Court stayed the injunction in whole, not in part; the 30 day clock is a part of the injunction itself.

DISH claims they have newer software which does not infringe which has already been loaded onto the boxes. Thus DISH will try to claim the injunction is no longer necessary because the hardware claims are no longer applicable and the software no longer infringes – how can you enjoin the use of something that doesn´t infringe in any way? The fact that the scope of infringement has significantly changed since the Appeallate ruling could well be a factor in arguing for a modification of the injunction. I think it is likely that DISH will have to demonstrate its software does not infringe for the Judge to lift the injunction in whole or in part, however there may be some delays granted by the Court and reasonable opportunities for DISH to do so before the DVR functions are required to be shut down. There may also be an Appeals process over this which could further stay the DVR shutoff.

The next question is can the DVR functionality be disabled without turning the entire box off; ie. can the box be turned into a STB and honor the injunction? I believe it is very likely this can be done. Thus rumors of complete catastrophy for DISH are exaggerated. A lot of chest thumping about massive fines and contempt of court is likely just that at this point.

As it stands, the Court has ordered a status conference for May 30th, giving TiVo until May 16th to lay out its position and DISH May 23rd to repsond. I don´t think anything serious is going to happen to DISH in the interim in terms of fines, but subscribers might lose their DVR functionality. The next 3 weeks will reveal a lot about the parties´strategies and positions as we see motions, etal.

How Do You TiVo?

Eight short years ago, when TiVo and ReplayTV came to market, both Madison Avenue and “Joe Consumer” needed the value proposition explained to them and proved. Today, while the industry still works to get the value out of the proposition, consumers are clearly onboard and enthusiastic.

An article titled after my own heart:

Revision3 Shows: Soon to be Seen by Hardly Anyone On Multiple Platforms

San Francisco-based Revision3 which produces more than a dozen Web video series has inked multiple distribution deals in the past two weeks including deals with Joost, TiVo and Hulu according to a story on MediaWeek.

 

 COVER STORY: Girl Power!

SIDEBAR: Co-Viewing: No More Fights Over the Remote

With a full 20% of homes now owning a digital-video recorder, a strange thing is happening in the living room: More couples are watching TV together, and fewer are fighting over the remote control. Nielsen senior VP of planning policy and analysis Pat McDonough suggested that co-viewing may be gradually reversing a long-running fragmentation trend.

“It’s like appointment TV; when people play back later, they’re together,” she said. McDonough added that if she’s watching her favorite shows, like Desperate Housewives, live, she’s much more likely to be watching them alone.

TiVo’s Todd Juenger, VP of audience research, backed up the argument that co-viewing is on the rise as a result of time shifting. “In the halls here, we joke about how many marriages TiVo has saved … You used to have to fight over what to watch. You still have to choose who watches first, but you don’t have to go into a separate room. It is a great compromising vehicle.”

Duane Varan, a well-known TV researcher at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, oversees a living room fashioned as a laboratory that receives thousands of TV viewers who act as guinea pigs. Varan’s work involves measuring responses to TV shows or commercials through such methods as galvanic skin response (or how much a person sweats) or a viewer’s eye movements and heart rate.

“Our research shows that new technology actually helps to accommodate the gender difference,” Varan said. “It’s good news for the battle of the sexes.” The television can be paused momentarily while discussions are finished, and other distractions don’t have to wait until commercial breaks, he suggested.

Lower prices, innovation, features, technology, consumer benefits …

The only benefits to come out of all this mucking around in all these years is the ability to save around $5/mo on a CC vs an STB, and the idea of recording TV shows. While the first is a benefit, I would not call it a significant benefit because it comes at the cost of several “services” cable STBs offer. As for the second, well, lets not sneeze at it, but come on, no other ideas than that in all these years?

It is probably the case that there never was much to be had out of opening cable networks. The only real technological problem cableCARD has ever solved is the ability to record HD - HD component and HDMI recording only just now becoming practical. The only real application to opening a video network seems to be the abilty to capture the video.

Heck, DVRs could have captured compressed digital streams off firewire outputs from cable STBs years ago, without all the hassle.

We are left only with the dual (multi) tuner issue. For many years I have controlled multiple TiVoes in a single room; all that´s ever needed to be done is require cable cos to provide STBs with IR codes, or better yet a multi-tuner STB with multiple (or muxed) digital outputs. All that could have been done years ago with far less hassle and headache.

I am wondering if anyone can chime in with some sort of idea that offers a more optomistic outlook on the open cable landscape. Surely we will get something more for all this than a video recorder with a different UI and less access to cable services than with a cable provided box?

I received a response a short time ago from Mike Schwartz at CableLabs in regard to a series of questions I emailed him asking for details and results of the interop testing done last week. In essence, he says they are treating the event as private and suggest I contact the vendors…though he does not say who was there, which was one of my questions.    I bet TiVo was there. 

He goes on to say…

What I can say is that we stand ready to conduct compliance testing on tuning adaptors
and UDCPs that implement the interface, once suppliers wish to submit.

 

which does not sound to me like Q2 availability. 

Subject: Tuning Resolver Status

Dear Mr. Schwartz,

I am an analyst/blogger in the digital video field who writes under the pen name
HDTiVo (hdtivo.wordpress.com)

I am researching the status of the tuning resolver for UDCPs to access SDV channels,
and understand interoperability testing was done last week at CableLabs. What can
you tell me publicly about the status of the TR´s development and expected availability
date to either cable companies or actual end users?

The testing done last week, was that with final production versions of the TR that
cable cos. will be purchasing or with prototypes? Was the testing merely for 3rd
party UDCPs with final TRs?

How would you characterize the results? Were there more or less problems than expected?
Will projected availabilty dates be changed?

What companies brought their UDCPs and what types were they, to the extent you can
reveal?

I am especially interested in as much info about

TiVo´s Series 3 Platform units
as you can provide.

Many thanks in advance for taking the time to respond,

Regards,

HDTiVo

I would keep an eye on zatznotfunny for more news from Mari Sibley.

Unlike certain “competing” blogs who change their formats, HDTiVo Blog is completely committed to its current format. Rest assured, you will never see a video, photo or graphic. Our devotion is to black and white text that´s unfortunately not read all over.

Strict Teletype compatiblity will be maintained indefinitely. Always take the latest news home on punch tape that fits in your shirt pocket – even when writing implements are sharing space therein.

Unfortunately due to vendor requirements, CRT support is no longer available; we are now LCD only.  OK, just kidding; chill.

Our commitment is to write articles less frequently to allow all our readers to keep pace. Once everyone has had a chance to read and comment on the latest article, we will begin working on the next. We hope this will give folks the chance to also absorb the comments before being burdened with a new topic.

Your feedback on retaining the old format is welcome. We did no testing to see if this was the right thing to do, in accordance with our strict no testing of anything ever policy.

Best wishes for the second quarter of 2008, and as always, thanks for being troubled enough to read this,

HDTiVo

 That’s a long way from what cableCARD allows with its SDV limits, no PPV or VOD, copy flags, etc.

This new device records component HD and has not one but two HDMI inputs. It apparently records in mpeg4 format, has an SD slot for additional storage (portability?) and may cost $999 to start.

SlingMedia is introducting a box (PRO-HD) which records component HD for $399.

The day has finally come when you will never again here it costs too much to record analog HD for a consumer device.

Such devices can record from any source – cable, satellite, etc. You are no longer subject to cableCARD or proprietary standards.

This was not a bad QTR in that it showed the THD could be a well accepted product under the right conditions. TiVo probably sold 2.5-3X as many THDs as S3s last year, even with the bad pricing/terms for “service.” TiVo has changed its offer to new subscribers for Q4 back to what it was in 3Q07. This should benefit sales to new customers. However, MSD subs were sited as ticking up for THD and TiVo has reduced the desirability to the MSD price. I am concerned about that drag.

The metrics used to judge TiVo’s business improved – obvious evidence that the THD is an easier product to sell at $299 than what TiVo has had recently.  SAC comparisons improved YOY, GAs declined less on a percentage basis and SAC effiency didn’t look as bad. Make no mistake, everything was still negative, but not as negative.

TiVo now has a product people want to buy. So the marketing remains a problem.

The changes implemented for Q4 are positive signs for the future. TiVo will at the very least see great benefits from the parts they improved and that should help them realize they have to head further down that path.

Lifetime is extremely popular. I wonder that I misjudge its effect even at $399, but $399 is pretty stiff. There is probably a lot of pent up demand for it, but TiVo should lower that price later and make it universally available asap.

On other fronts, the resolution to the SDV problem is coming along in the time frame I thought it would when I said this summer that it was safe to jump into the water again. An OCAP box will be possible if/when it eventually becomes important to make one.

TiVo is making a little bit of progress on ad and measurement businesses, but nothing to get excited about.

TiVo seems to have a couple paying ComTiVo customers now. The whole thing is going to be buried into what was the DTV line, so figuring out CableSoftTiVo, Mexcio, DTV… will be tough. The rollout looks as slow and bumpy as you’d reasonably expect and there’s no sign yet of the effect/quality of marketing.

There is going to be a PC TiVo via Nero software (is it really pronounced Nay-Rho?) Not enough info there to make any judgement about that business yet.

I am encouraged by the indication of lower marketing spend for Q4. That and the change in plans indicate some adults have climbed Sugar Mountain and are exterting some influence.

Basically, Q3 shows moderate improvement at TiVo, particularly with regard to product offering. There is some hope for more improvement in Q4 and beyond.

Notes from call.

TiVo: Its time to say a little UNCLE

Mr. Rogers Presents

TiVo @ Maxim Group Growth Conference

Strategic Positioning – In Front of Your …

Current TiVo Pricing

I’ll comment on the QTR results and other issues in the next couple of days.

 Thanks and appologies to the loyal readers who have clicked in vain.