DirecTV Announces Equity Investment In TiVo To Market Personal Television Service
DirecTV, Inc. has announced it has made a major investment in TiVo, Inc. As a result, DirecTV becomes TiVoís largest corporate investor with an ownership position in excess of 10 percent. As part of the agreement, DirecTV and TiVo will partner to jointly market the TiVo Personal Television Service to new and existing DirecTV subscribers. Specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed. ""Our investment in TiVo, along with our marketing partnership, furthers our commitment and support of the personalized TV concept,"" said Larry Chapman, Executive Vice President of DirecTV. ""We partnered with TiVo because we believe that they offer the best available solution for bringing personalized TV to our subscribers. TiVo represents the latest installment in out 1999 interactive rollout strategy. Additional interactive products and services will be announced throughout the year."" ""DirecTVís endorsement of TiVoís personal television service and technology reinforces its commitment to delivering the best entertainment value to is more than 4.8 million subscribers,"" said Mike Ramsey, founder and CEO of TiVo. ""The TiVo Personal TV Service and DirecTV are a natural combination that brings the television viewing experience to a whole new level. With more than 185 channels of programming to choose from, DirecTV subscribers will now be able to further personalize their viewing, access many more programs on demand, pause and rewind live TV and make sure that they will never miss a minute of their favorite television shows."" DirecTV and TiVo will work together to market the TiVo personalized TV service and Philips Personal TV receiver to existing and potential DirecTV subscribers. In addition, DirecTV will allocate bandwidth that will enable TiVo to take advantage of a broadband channel to receive data and video content. Using this capability, TiVoís ""Showcases"" will feature program previews and movie trailers. In TiVoís ""Showcases"" area, viewers will learn about new shows and specials and be able to easily select them for future recording. In addition to its equity investment, DirecTV will receive its own ""DirecTV Showcase"" on the TiVo service and secure a position on TiVoís board of directors. The ""DirecTV Showcase"" may feature DirecTVís programming services, highlights of pay-per-view movies and special events, and other timely information form DirecTV that viewers can select and retrieve at their convenience. DirecTV, Philips and TiVo have previously announced an agreement to collaborate on the development and marketing of a Philips-branded DirecTV System receiver that will allow viewers to get both DirecTV programming and the TiVo personal TV service in a single get-top box. A lifetime subscription to the TiVo service with a 14-hour Phillips Personal TV receiver is $698. A 30-hour receiver with lifetime subscription is priced at $1,198. Alternatively, customers may choose from monthly or annual TiVo service packages at $9.95 and $99 respectively and Phillips Personal TV receiver configurations at $499 for 14 and $999 for 30 hours.