Best Buy To Exclusively Sell New TiVo Digital Video Recorder

8-Mar-02

TiVoÆ (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator and leader of television services for digital video recording, announced a strategic sales agreement with Best Buy that will result in both companies working closely to drive sales of the next-generation TiVo Series2, while simultaneously working to accelerate growth of the DVR category in general. The TiVo Series2 will be offered exclusively at Best Buy, which operates more than 478 stores in 43 states and is a leading online consumer electronics store on the Web at www.bestbuy.com. The Series2 product is expected to be available at Best Buy stores May 2002. ""This agreement with TiVo represents a tremendous opportunity for both organizations in an exciting new digital category,"" said Pete Bosse, Vice President and General Manager of Internet and Television Services for Best Buy. ""Our customers are asking for the TiVo brand, and TiVo's simplicity and ease-of-use are a perfect fit with the total entertainment experience that we're offering our customers. We're looking forward to working together to introduce new buyers to this advanced digital product."" TiVo Series2 provides consumers with increased recording capacity at a lower cost, and will allow consumers to enjoy future entertainment services such as music, digital photos, video party games, Internet radio, and broadband video. Series2, first introduced at the 2002 Consumer Electronics Show, is the first TiVo-only branded product to be sold at retail. ""We see tremendous synergy in the partnership between TiVo and the nation's leading consumer electronics retailer. With both companies driving innovation in their categories, consumers will be able to find the product they want, in the place they want to buy it."" said Mike Ramsay, CEO of TiVo. ""I'm very excited about the focus that this brings to our retail distribution strategy, providing customers with a single point of purchase with less confusion and more information about how to join the TiVo community."" As part of the agreement, TiVo and Best Buy will collaborate on the development and automatic delivery of a Best Buy video showcase on the TiVo service. With this showcase, Best Buy will be able to introduce and educate TiVo subscribers on a broad range of new Best Buy products and promotions. The Showcase area of the TiVo service provides subscribers with easy access to entertainment, educational, or promotional video content. TiVo Series2 is available now and will continue to be sold online at www.tivo.com. It was first made available in February. Series2 can also be purchased by phoning TiVo 877 BUY TiVO (877 289 8486). TiVo DVRs digitally record television programming directly onto a hard drive. TiVo automatically records viewers' favorite TV shows, even if the network schedule changes. The Series2 DVR offers up to 60 hours of recording time in a newly-designed box. Retailing for $399 plus shipping and handling, the Series2 is shipping directly to consumers from www.tivo.com.

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