TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO), which has been having trouble staying afloat in the U.S. market lately, may have found an international life preserver. The digital video recording company whose name became both a noun and a verb is clinging to a an exclusive deal with U.K.-based Virgin Media to help reverse its flagging prospects.
Virgin, reports say, will have "thousands of TiVo boxes available over Christmas for existing customers" and will begin selling them externally after the holidays. The agreement presents "an opportunity for Virgin Media (which sells a triple play package to about four million customers in Britain) to depart from any legacy it had in terms of coming second in the TV space, Virgin's Chief Executive Neil Berkett said during a conference call.
TiVo previously had an agreement with Virgin competitor BSkyB but the pay TV operator started selling its own set-tops and TiVo left the British market. Virgin's TiVo box will cost $309 and then include a monthly subscription fee.
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