The northeastern U.S. has evidently become the proving ground for TiVo’s cable partners, with Cox Communications preparing to begin offering TiVo-based digital video recorder service in its New England division.
TiVo president and CEO Tom Rogers, on a conference call Wednesday discussing the company’s quarterly results, said Cox is currently in technical trials and will be launching soon in the region. Cox’s New England division provides service in Rhode Island and parts of Connecticut.
In January, Comcast began marketing TiVo-based DVR service in its own New England market, which serves about 1.6 million subscribers in Boston and surrounding areas.
"With both Comcast a reality and Cox in trial, our mass distribution strategy is making significant in-roads, effectively unleashing the power of TiVo beyond the confines of a dedicated hardware consumer electronic business,” Rogers said.
Comcast charges $2.95 per month extra for TiVo service; Cox has not announced its pricing for TiVo-based DVR customers.
For the quarter ended Jan. 31, TiVo posted revenue of $74.1 million, compared with $76.9 million in the year-earlier period. The company reported a net loss of $6.4 million, compared with a net loss of $19.5 million a year ago.
TiVo had 3.95 million cumulative total subscriptions as of Jan. 31. TiVo-owned subscriptions increased by a net of about 33,000 from the prior quarter, up 2% to 1.75 million.
The company reported a net decline of 154,000 “MSO/Broadcaster” subscriptions during the period, to end the quarter with 2.2 million. It cited the fact that DirecTV no longer offers TiVo boxes and that “other mass distribution deals are still in early phases of deployment” for the drop.
