TiVo Believed To Be In Talks To Return To UK Market
TiVo, the personal video recorder company, is understood to be in talks about making a return to the UK market, which it withdrew from last year following disappointing sales.
TiVo stopped producing its boxes in the UK last February after the expiry of a three year contract with its hardware partner, Thomson Multimedia. However, sources suggest the company is in negotiations with manufacturers about reintroducing its technology this side of the pond (see Advertisers’ Fears Eased As TiVo Withdraws From UK).
It is understood that the new Tivo PVR would include a digital-terrestrial tuner to target the strong retail market created by Freeview. However, it is unlikely that a UK device would include a satellite or cable tuner, which would have allowed Sky Digital or cable customers to record one programme whilst watching another.
Despite selling only around 25,000 boxes in the UK, TiVo is thought to have been interested in finding a new partner to produce a British version of its second generation PVR for some time. The new box is currently being sold in the US, where TiVo has over one million subscribers.
TiVo would face tough competition in the UK from Sky Plus, which recently launched with an extensive £20 million advertising campaign to promote the personal video recording service, which enables subscribers to create their own viewing schedules and skip through the commercial breaks (see BSkyB Launches £20 Million Campaign To Promote Sky Plus).
In October 2003 Sky is estimated to have had approximately 150,000 subscribers to its Sky Plus service. However, forecasts suggest that uptake is set to increase significantly with around 1 million people adopting the device by 2005.
New research carried out by PHD suggests that the increasing uptake of personal video recorders such as Sky Plus and TiVo could transform the media planning and buying process by 2006. The ongoing study into the effect of PVRs suggests that the ability to skip through commercial breaks could challenge the currency of television trading, and threaten the income of television channels dependent on advertising revenue (see PVRs Could Transform Media Planning Process).
TiVo: www.tivo.com
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