WOW becomes latest mid-sized MSO to employ TiVo for advanced video services

Wide Open West has become the latest mid-sized MSO to turn to TiVo for advanced video services.

In the new partnership, the Englewood, Colo.-based cable operator will deploy TiVo's video interface software on hybrid IP/QAM set-tops manufactured by Evolution Digital. The inexpensive HD set-tops will deliver both linear and online video, without a DVR or CableCard.

The set-tops will use security typically deployed on universal digital transport adapters and will operate as a standalone HD set-top, a client to a TiVo DVR, or as a client to future cloud-based video services.

WOW will be able to deliver online programming from Netflix, YouTube and other streaming platforms to its nearly 800,000 customers spread across the Midwest.

TiVo reported during its first quarter earnings call that its software interface is now in 4.81 million cable homes, with Suddenlink, Mediacom, Atlantic Broadband and other smaller and mid-sized operators deploying its service.

In a note to investors two weeks ago, Jefferies said TiVo's subscriber base through its MSO partners could double over the next four or five years, from the 4.8 million reported at the end of first quarter, with Tier-2 cable operators looking to provide advanced video services to their customers.

"TiVo offers pay-TV operators the types of features that define advanced TV (whole home viewing, watch TV on iPad, etc.)," a Jefferies research note said. "With the exception of large MSOs like Comcast, almost all pay-TV operators will need to turn to a third party like TiVo to deliver these features."

The minimalist, low-cost, OTT-focused offering represents a new kind of approach for TiVo, however.

"This is a unique new offering from TiVo that provides a non-DVR box that can handle both traditional and broadband video without the expense of a CableCARD--a great next generation solution for IP distribution," said Thomas Elam, VP and GM of TiVo's North American operator business. "TiVo has grown from solely a DVR provider into a full service entertainment software company that includes nDVRs, traditional DVRs, HD-STBs, DTAs, web and mobile."

For more:
- read this TiVo press release

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