Until recently, I figured that TiVo (NASDAQ:TIVO) offered investors nothing but disappointment. But the DVR pioneer has shown some signs of life in the past month, and Wednesday was no exception. TiVo and DirecTV (NYSE:DTV) announced a three-year extension to their current partnership, which was previously set to expire early next year. Looks like this turbulent couple is definitely on again, though it's worth noting that they've still got a pretty open relationship.

DirecTV's seeming abandonment of TiVo had fans bummed out for quite some time. After all, TiVo has garnered tons of subscribers through its lucrative and successful relationship with DirecTV. Although the revelation that TiVo had brokered a deal with Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) helped soften the apparent loss, DirecTV still represented more than two-thirds of TiVo's subscribers.

However, things seem to be looking up. TiVo's stock has been climbing recently, which many believe is due to speculation about its current patent case against EchoStar (NASDAQ:DISH). (Of course, those high hopes hinge on a favorable outcome for TiVo in that case.)

There's also been more talk of the way TiVo can improve TV ads. Though the box is famous for letting users skip traditional commericals, more companies are developing interactive advertising that customers can access through their TiVo boxes. If TiVo gets this right -- and consumers respond -- it'll definitely help establish the company as a strong contender in the future of television advertising.

At any rate, today's announcement definitely gives some relief to investors who might have been concerned that DirecTV would no longer support existing TiVo customers. The deal extends the expiration date on the two companies' relationship from February 2007 until February 2010. Furthermore, the companies have agreed not to wrangle over patent issues. (Note that satellite-TV provider EchoStar competes with DirecTV.) On the other hand, bear in mind that DirecTV still intends to push its own DVR, manufactured by NDS (NYSE:NNDS), to its subscriber base.

Retention of its happy DirecTV customers is a definite plus for TiVo. However, I wouldn't be so quick to jump onto the bandwagon that has bid up TiVo shares by about 9% in today's trading. There's still a lot for investors to consider regarding TiVo; it's taken a hit on profitability by luring customers with cheap hardware. It's tempting to hope that the company is rewinding to happier days, but TiVo's still got a lot of challenges to face.

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Alyce Lomax does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned.