Will The Launch Be Nationwide?davisfreebergAugust 25 2011, 10:08:57 UTC
Good news to hear that the DTV TiVo is finally being built, but if you look carefully at what Roger's says you'll notice that he doesn't mention whether we'll see DTV do a full launch or just trials. For all we know they are only manufacturing 100 boxes until DTV signs off. When the analyst asked the question of what kind of rights TiVo had to force this to more forward, I didn't find the answer very encouraging. Those same "marketing" agreements have been trumpeted for years and DTV was allowed to drag this out and don't forget that Comcast had the same obligations and that hasn't amounted to much. I get that TiVo wants this to be DTV's announcement to make, but it really is unfair to their customers and investors to pretend like this is going to be bigger than it really is, if they know that DTV is trying to neuter it from the get go. Just look at how long it took them to be honest about the old menu and lack of multi-room viewing on the box. TiVo would have had to have known about these deficiencies for years, but did nothing to try and soften expectations or inform consumers until way after the fact. It's one thing to have a partner that doesn't want to play fair, but why wasn't TiVo upfront about this early on, even if the choice wasn't up to them? For years we've been hearing that DTV was set to launch and if it does in the fall then fantastic, but if it's a limited version available to a limited number of households for a year long trial, then Tom Roger's comments go beyond deceptive. We'll see whether or not the DVR that DTV was talking about is in fact the TiVo, but right now there is a huge disconnect between both CEOs comments and given TiVo's track record, I'm sad to say that I find White more credible.
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