Tivo merger? What does Tivo's future hold?

[Tampa8]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/25/b...aid-to-be-in-merger-talks-with-rovi.html?_r=0

 

[Radioguy41]

Not sure merging with a company on the downhill slide and ready to fade into the sunset is a sound business strategy for Rovi.

 

[Tampa8]

Likely for patents but the general feeling at least in the Tivo forums is that is the death knoll for consumer Tivo's. I have thought they may be done in the not too distant future in any case for various reasons. Better if they can survive and that is what I hope.

 

[navychop]

Hasn't TiVo stated they wanted to be a software company, not a hardware company?

I wonder if "lifetime" will last until ATSC 3 comes out?

 

[Mr Tony]

Hope it doesnt happen!

 

[primestar31]

It makes me wish Charlie had bought them...

 

[Mr Tony]

It makes me wish Charlie had bought them...

ewww god no!

 

[ncted]

So, I get the feeling I will be a Dish customer again sometime in the near future. I hear the Hopper3 is nice. I guess I had better brush up on it.

Tivo was the only reason I could convince my wife that we should go OTA. With Rovi involved, it is likely to be a mess for a while once the merger happens, best case scenario.

 

[NashGuy]

Hopefully TiVo service continues for their retail units for a long while. No reason to think it won't (although there is some concern that the provider of TiVo's tv and streaming listings data will switch from Tribune to the lesser Rovi).

That said, Tablo looks pretty slick as an OTA DVR. If you already have a Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, or Fire TV (and who doesn't at this point?), it works as an app on those devices, all of which also offer a superior streaming experience to TiVo.

 

[ncted]

Hopefully TiVo service continues for their retail units for a long while. No reason to think it won't (although there is some concern that the provider of TiVo's tv and streaming listings data will switch from Tribune to the lesser Rovi).

That said, Tablo looks pretty slick as an OTA DVR. If you already have a Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, or Fire TV (and who doesn't at this point?), it works as an app on those devices, all of which also offer a superior streaming experience to TiVo.

I have 2 AppleTVs, a Roku, a Tivo Roamio OTA, 2 Tivo Minis, Sony Smart TVs, and recent Panasonic and Sony Blu-Ray players. Aside from Hulu, I find the Tivos to be the best streaming platform in my house. All of the others have either stability or responsiveness issues for streaming applications.

My concern begins with the guide data. One of the things I am paying for with Tivo, is high-quality guide data for my OTA stations. From what I hear about Rovi, that is likely to decline if Tivo switches to their new overlord's data. Beyond that, Rovi will likely reduce investment in the retail platforms' development, which will result in buggy software. I certainly do not want to pay for the people who are ruining what used to be a very robust product to do so. I had enough of that with TimeWarnerCable.

 

[kluken]

So, I get the feeling I will be a Dish customer again sometime in the near future. I hear the Hopper3 is nice. I guess I had better brush up on it.

Tivo was the only reason I could convince my wife that we should go OTA. With Rovi involved, it is likely to be a mess for a while once the merger happens, best case scenario.

Hmm, I was just getting ready to get a TiVo since the Xfinity DVR is a joke, but may have to go back to dish as well.

 

[Larry1]

Tablo looks pretty slick as an OTA DVR

Tablo is not as smooth running as TiVo, and must have a streaming box of some kind to use it. I have a Tablo and it is always having glitches... Their answer for problems is to reboot the box, not fix the software. The guide on Tablo is poor. The grid style guide does not go for enough days ahead. Only 24hrs. Only the show listings in alpha order go 2 weeks. Channel surfing is extremely poor. Too much waiting and buffering.

 

[lparsons21]

I have 2 AppleTVs, a Roku, a Tivo Roamio OTA, 2 Tivo Minis, Sony Smart TVs, and recent Panasonic and Sony Blu-Ray players. Aside from Hulu, I find the Tivos to be the best streaming platform in my house. All of the others have either stability or responsiveness issues for streaming applications.

My concern begins with the guide data. One of the things I am paying for with Tivo, is high-quality guide data for my OTA stations. From what I hear about Rovi, that is likely to decline if Tivo switches to their new overlord's data. Beyond that, Rovi will likely reduce investment in the retail platforms' development, which will result in buggy software. I certainly do not want to pay for the people who are ruining what used to be a very robust product to do so. I had enough of that with TimeWarnerCable.

I liked Tivo's streaming implementation but not for the reasons you give. You could search and 'record' on streaming stuff so it appeared just like a recording though it actually got the show as you watched. That was the single best thing I liked on TiVo.

The guide was nothing to get excited about though it was good and the streaming performance was about the same as I get on my FireTV, AppleTV and Smart TV apps.

The TiVo is retired now since I quit cable.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[ncted]

Hmm, I was just getting ready to get a TiVo since the Xfinity DVR is a joke, but may have to go back to dish as well.

Now that they are putting Google Fiber in my neighborhood, I would probably give that a try before going back to Dish. The PQ is supposed to be second to none.

 

[kluken]

I actually feel that Comcast in my area has better PQ than Dish, I hardly ever see pixelating like I did on Dish.