TiVo Rolls Out AT&T Cable PVR To Broadband Customers
By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 12/3/2001
SAN JOSE, CALIF.— TiVo announced it has taken its PVR system to the broadband cable industry after deploying its first broadband cable products to select AT&T Broadband customers.
AT&T subscribers have the option of purchasing the new TiVo model from AT&T cable operators for $299. The new broadband box is offered as a "sidecar" attachment to AT&T broadband decoder boxes, which will initially link up with analog A/V jacks and an IR blaster.
However, the compact unit includes USB and serial port connectors for future direct digital connections to the box following software upgrades. It also offers enough hard disk space for 40-hours of programming at a time.
AT&T will charge TiVo device owners either an extra $9.95 a month or a one-time $249 lifetime fee for program recording capability, which includes on-screen guide listings.
AT&T Broadband began offering the new product this month to customers in its following territories: New England, Denver, and the California cities of Cupertino, Los Altos, Mountain View, San Jose, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale.
Meanwhile, TiVo announced it has activated 51,000 new subscribers for its personal video recorder service, bringing the total subscriber base for the company to about 280,000 as of the end of its fiscal third quarter on Oct. 31.
TiVo reported a 29 percent increase in revenue for the period, hitting $5.3 million, up from $4.1 million in the three-month period ending July 31 and up from $1.1 million in the year-ago period.
Net loss for the third quarter was $34.5 million, flat when compared with the second quarter, but an improvement over a loss of $72.7 million in the same three months in 2000. Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) for the third quarter was a loss of $12.2 million, compared with a loss of $24 million in the second quarter and a loss of $66.1 million for the third quarter of last year.
For the nine months, TiVo revenue reached $12.5 million, up from $2.5 million in the year-ago period. Net loss for the period was $119.1 million, down from $135.1 million in the year-ago nine months. Adjusted EBITDA for the nine months was a loss of $76.6 million, down from the $121.1 million in the same period in 2000.
