TiVo Hikes Fee, Trims Workforce
By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 4/16/2001
SUNNYVALE, CALIF. — TiVo, the personal video recorder service, announced it will lay off about 80 jobs and increase the price of its lifetime subscription fee for its PVR program guide data service from $199 to $249.
According to Michael Ramsay, TiVo CEO, the moves will generate about $60 million for the company and will keep the company from depending on further fund-raising efforts this year.
The lifetime service price increase will take effect May 1. TiVo said approximately 60 percent of its subscription revenue comes from lifetime programs. The remainder comes from users who opt for the $9.95 monthly fee.
The company forecasts the addition of between 180,000 and 220,000 subscribers this year, for a cumulative subscriber count of 350,000 by 2002. TiVo expects annual revenues of between $20 million and $24 million.
