Not long ago I observed that TiVo (NASDAQ:TIVO) had been one heck of a disappointment for several months running. These days, though, things seem to be once again moving and shaking for the DVR maker. The latest news involved TiVo's release of a DVR box that allows viewers to record two shows at once.
TiVo's press release, related to the imminent launch of the TiVo Series2 DT DVR, includes the following statement from the company's vice president of marketing: "We've been hearing from our subscribers that they wanted a TiVo DVR that could record two shows at once." Well, no kidding. The lack of such a feature has been a pretty glaring oversight.
As a TiVo user myself, I fell in love with the time shifting element immediately (TiVo, you had me at hello!) -- my one disappointment was that I couldn't watch one live program while recording another. When I've encountered people who were curious about the product they'd heard so much about, they always express surprise that you couldn't watch a show while recording another one at the same time on a different channel -- they thought that was part of the point. It takes a lot of the excitement out of time shifting when you've still got to choose which show you're going to watch in a specific time slot (unless you choose to watch a show you previously recorded while recording a live one).
What makes it all just a touch more sad, of course, is the fact that, in the history of TiVo -- the premier DVR brand, with its user-friendly interface and history of innovation -- this has been a huge oversight. After all, EchoStar (NASDAQ:DISH), Time Warner (NASDAQ:TWX), and Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) all included this feature in their DVR boxes. (Long-time TiVo partner DirecTV (NYSE:DTV) took up the slack too, offering a dual tuner in a box it provided with TiVo.)
The dual-tuner TiVo will be available Monday; it costs a mere $100 for the box (after rebate), plus monthly subscription charges for varying plans. The dual-tuner TiVo includes 80 hours' worth of hard drive memory.
This isn't exactly market-moving news, of course. It's a feature that should have been part of the package ages ago, although it arguably makes TiVo more attractive to prospective customers in the better-late-than-never category. Meanwhile, TiVo's stock has already had a good dose of euphoria because of its patent dispute (and subsequent favorable ruling) with EchoStar. Although I'd say TiVo's outlook does look better than it did several months ago, now that it has several interesting catalysts going for it (not to mention a cash infusion from the EchoStar patent ruling), it's still important that investors remember the risks. The playing field is full of deep-pocketed rivals (for goodness' sake, even Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) has entered the game, having recently announced a service that hooks up PC and TV with TiVo-like functionality). It's nice to see that TiVo's a contender again -- but at the moment, given TiVo's recent run-up in price, I can't help but think of the old adage, "buyer beware."
For more on TiVo, check out the following Foolish content:
- In February, I nominated TiVo as "Biggest Disappointment," and it won that dubious title.
- Not long after, Rick Munarriz commented on a cool deal for TiVo.
- And of course, an extension of its DirecTV agreement was another upbeat development.
David Gardner recommended TiVo and Time Warner to Motley Fool Stock Advisor subscribers. To find out what other stocks David and his brother Tom have recommended since April 2002, click here for a 30-day free trial.
Alyce Lomax does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned.
