James Delahunty
19 Feb 2005 5:37
TiVo has announced it now has 3 million subscribers. It had passed the 3 million customer mark at the end of January, adding 251,000 TiVo-only customers and 447,000 DirecTV customers. "Last year, we launched an aggressive growth plan that included increasing our subscription acquisition spending to grow our base, strengthen our market position, and fuel our recurring revenue model," said Mike Ramsay, TiVo's Chairman and CEO. "We accomplished our goal of doubling our sub base to over 3 million subscriptions."
TiVo has been put under increased pressure in recent months as the company must show that it can survive without DirecTV at its side. DirecTV announced their own DVR device at CES 2005 which only fuelled more speculation that the two companies partnership may in fact be nearing its end. Also TiVo CEO Mike Ramsay and President Marty Yudkovitz both announced their resignation within weeks of each other in January.
If all that isn't enough, now TiVo subscribers are also coming forward announcing numerous glitches in the latest software updates. Despite TiVo's optimism, Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox doesn't expect the situation to improve. "According to Jupiter Research forecasts, satellite-based DVRs have the greatest installed base, with cable-based DVR expected to snatch the lead in a few years. While the market consolidates around cable- and satellite-based DVR, standalone unit install base will decline steadily over the next five years," Wilcox stated.
Source:
Betanews