TiVo Loses 163k Subscribers vs. 178k in Previous Quarter
In the quarter ending October 31, 2008, TiVo’s total subscribers fell to 3.46 million, approximately the same level they had in Spring, 2005. As we’ve covered before, TiVo may have a valuable intellectual property portfolio, but its hardware selling business is over. For the most recent quarter, it sold fewer than 500 TiVo DVRs a day.
TiVo subscribers July 2001- October 2008(millions, except for Net Additions which are thousands)
| TiVo-Owned | MSOs | Cumulative | Net Additions | |
| Jul-01 | 0.182 | 0.047 | 0.229 | |
| Oct-01 | 0.206 | 0.074 | 0.280 | 51 |
| Jan-02 | 0.246 | 0.134 | 0.380 | 100 |
| Apr-02 | 0.270 | 0.152 | 0.422 | 42 |
| Jul-02 | 0.291 | 0.173 | 0.464 | 42 |
| Oct-02 | 0.321 | 0.189 | 0.510 | 46 |
| Jan-03 | 0.396 | 0.228 | 0.624 | 114 |
| Apr-03 | 0.433 | 0.270 | 0.703 | 79 |
| Jul-03 | 0.467 | 0.433 | 0.900 | 197 |
| Oct-03 | 0.526 | 0.476 | 1.002 | 102 |
| Jan-04 | 0.656 | 0.676 | 1.332 | 330 |
| Apr-04 | 0.724 | 0.872 | 1.596 | 264 |
| Jul-04 | 0.787 | 1.097 | 1.884 | 288 |
| Oct-04 | 0.890 | 1.413 | 2.303 | 419 |
| Jan-05 | 1.141 | 1.860 | 3.001 | 698 |
| Apr-05 | 1.213 | 2.107 | 3.320 | 319 |
| Jul-05 | 1.253 | 2.321 | 3.574 | 254 |
| Oct-05 | 1.308 | 2.700 | 4.008 | 434 |
| Jan-06 | 1.491 | 2.873 | 4.364 | 356 |
| Apr-06 | 1.542 | 2.875 | 4.417 | 53 |
| Jul-06 | 1.572 | 2.846 | 4.418 | 1 |
| Oct-06 | 1.625 | 2.809 | 4.434 | 16 |
| Jan-07 | 1.726 | 2.718 | 4.444 | 10 |
| Apr-07 | 1.727 | 2.615 | 4.342 | -102 |
| Jul-07 | 1.708 | 2.489 | 4.197 | -145 |
| Oct-07 | 1.712 | 2.355 | 4.067 | -130 |
| Jan-08 | 1.745 | 2.201 | 3.946 | -121 |
| Apr-08 | 1.728 | 2.073 | 3.801 | -145 |
| Jul-08 | 1.686 | 1.937 | 3.623 | -178 |
| Oct-08 | 1.658 | 1.802 | 3.460 | -163 |
To see TiVo’s share of the DVR installed base go here.
-
“MSOs” refer to subscriptions sold to consumers by MSOs/Broadcasters such as DIRECTV, Cablevision Mexico, Seven (Australia), and Comcast for which TiVo expects to incur little or no acquisition costs.
Great data!
I think the american people have finally seen that TIVO was a mirage. It doesn’t really work, since it’s based on electronic guides that may be inaccurate. Just stick with a vcr and save the money.
Farkeem, More likely the decrease is due to the fact that cable and satellite companies now offer DVRs as part of their packages. People have no reason to pay hundreds of dollars to Tivo when they can get a DVR for just slightly more than they’re already paying their cable company.
Holly is correct. About a million US households a month added a DVR in the last 3 months, but almost none of them were a TiVo.
Fakeem,
What? Maybe once or twice a year I’ve had that problem. It originates with the content providers serving inaccurate data, not anything Tivo has control over, so Comcast DVR’s have the same issue. Frankly, I consider the Tivo interface to be the gold standard.
Holly pointed out what I’d been wondering – there’s probably a big TiVo decline now that cable and satellite companies offer DVR upgrades for as little as $5 per month or so. Plus, the cable/satellite technician will come in and install your new box for you for free. Very convenient.
TIVO is doomed. It reminds me of that segment on last week ROBOT CHICKEN where a guy was so mesmerized by TIVO that he just sat there like a zombie then TIVO came out of the TV and killed a guy so zombie guy could keep watching TIVO.
As the economy worsens people will look for things to cut back on, like TIVO and DVR services.
Don’t forget to rule out people cutting cable entirely. You can get almost any program for free via network-run websites or illegal downloading. I have free cable at my apartment but haven’t even got around to purchasing a television since I can watch everything on my own time on the computer…only thing I’m really missing out on is the ability to watch some of PBS’s prime time line-up although, again, I could still find plenty of it on their website or via BitTorrent.
Aw, that’s said. I love my Tivo.
I love Tivo but don’t subscribe to the service. It’s software is vastly superior to anything the cable and satellite DVRs have to offer, but it’s just too expensive. Tivo requires an equipment purchase and a monthly fee. For $5/mo , my cable company will lease me a box. And when a new generation of boxes come out, I can just give it back and get the new one for free. Tivo can’t beat that.
This is very sad news as TIVO has the best DVR user interface experience of all. The DVR’s from Comcast are very dissapointing. I have a TIVO HD and a Comcast HD box and my vote is for TIVO. People are getting the Comcast box because it is cheap, but it is very poor solution.
I’ve had a TiVo series 2 with a “life” subscription. When they came out with HD boxes and offered to transfer the life subscription for $199, I took their offer. Unfortunately that was the bait. I discovered that the offer came with a surprise. It has a “free” one year subscription to the second TiVo that they won’t let you cancel for the first year and which automatically converts to a $10 per month plan after a year. When I didn’t cancel it in the 13th month (and I couldn’t over the internet and it took 45 min over the phone) they automatically started charging my credit card (with no additional notification).
Their customer support says that I should have paid more attention to the agreement. I haven’t used the series 2 since I got the new unit last year. They know this and don’t care. They have converted me from a repeat customer to an enemy. All this for less than $20 and one paid subscriber for two months. Technically I liked their product, but they are stupid desperate business people and should go out of business. I know it is in my interest that someone continues to provide subscription service while my HD box works, but I’d like to see these scammers broke and gone. It looks less like an honest mistake than a very bad business plan. My subscription will expire on Dec 25, I hope the management’s stock options expire worthless.
just build a mythtv box http://www.mythtv.com
I’ve got a Comcast HD TiVo. Works great. Any issues have been resolved by @concastcares on twitter.