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DirecTV to Offer Own Digital Video Recorder This Month

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 7, 2005 - 7:41am.
New York - Following several years of a successful partnership with TiVo, satellite TV operator DirecTV plans to introduce its own rival digital video recorder next week, The New York Times reported. Currently, 2.3 million of DirecTV's 14.7 million subscribers have TiVo; DirecTV pays $1.13 per month per subscriber to TiVo for the service. The DirecTV DVR, powered by software from News Corp's NDS, will offer 100 hours of recording capacity when it becomes available later this month, compared with the 60-hour DirecTV with TiVo set-top. DirecTV plans a $30 million marketing campaign for its new device during the fourth quarter. The company will also continue to offer TiVo's DVR service alongside its own; both will cost an extra $5.99 per month. However, DirecTV could end up paying TiVo licensing fees on its own DVR set-tops, should TiVo emerge victorious in a patent infringement claim against DirecTV rival EchoStar Communications. If EchoStar's DISH Network digital video recorders are found to infringe on TiVo patents, TiVo may move on to target DirecTV. "If we believed the NDS product violated TiVo's intellectual property, one course of action we would have would be to sue NDS and possibly DirecTV," Edward Lichty, vice president for corporate development at TiVo, told The Times.
tags: Video | CE | TiVo | DirecTV | DVR | Set-tops | Cable | NDS | News Corp. TV |