TiVo hopes to develop a strong position internationally and sign more deals with satellite pay-TV operators in Europe, a company executive said.
    In 2010, TiVo signed agreements with cable operators Virgin Media in the United Kingdom and ONO in Spain to develop next-generation TV platforms that include a converged television and broadband interactive interface to power next-generation, HD set-top boxes.
    “We are extremely active in talking to international satellite pay-TV operators right now. We definitely want to do similar deals like Virgin Media with satellite operators,” said Joshua Danovitz, vice president & general manager, international, TiVo. “Satellite partnerships are a high priority for us. A lot of what operators are doing now is combining broadband and linear content. Satellite is in a unique situation, as they do not have a built-in back channel. What TiVo brings is the ability for a pay-TV operator to deploy a set-top box, have all the features of TiVo, and if they offer broadband, then combine it as a joint offering. TiVo offers one integrated search across all content including VOD. We see this as critical to satellite, as they don’t have that backchannel,” he said.
    TiVo works with DirecTV in the United States, and TiVo has nearly 2 million subscribers through DirecTV, Danovitz said. TiVo is developing a new set-top box for DirecTV that will combine the TiVo user interface and DirecTV interactive services and video on demand in a single, HD-capable box. This partnership could provide a model for how TiVo will work with partners around the globe, but the approach will have to be modified, he said.
    “Our U.S. product connects to the most advanced interactive services in the world. We do advertising, broadband video etc. We do networking, audience research. Our message in the United States is very consumer-focused,” Danovitz said. “Outside of the United States, we have taken a very different strategy. The strategy is consistent with the deals we have done with DirecTV and Comcast. We provide an enterprise solution for pay-TV operators. The operators choose the hardware. The magic of TiVo is in the software — the user interface — and the way it interacts with the TiVo service, which is hosted in the cloud,” says Danowitz.
   To boost its opportunities with satellite pay-TV operators, TiVo signed deals with conditional access vendor Conax and set-top box vendor Technicolor to provide TiVo more chances to have its solutions deployed by operators. The partnership with Conax was announced in March, as the two companies wanted to “offer a next-generation DVB set-top box platform for deployment by television operators around the world.” The deal with Technicolor, announced in May, has Technicolor investing in and developing an advanced, TiVo-ready, HD PVR set-top box for operators who license TiVo software.
   “Technicolor and Conax are examples of partnerships that have been jointly created for a mutual benefit. Neither relationship is exclusive. I would expect that future deals would be direct with pay-TV operators. If there is a satellite company that would benefit from working with Technicolor or Conax, we could do that,” Danowitz said.
    The broadcasting landscape is changing, and this benefits a company such as TiVo, Danovitz said. “There is the potential to have a much more robust [over-the-air] offering. There is now an environment where pay-TV operators now have to compete on something more than price and number of channels. As a student of the international TV market, there are immense opportunities for us. It is no longer pay-TV channels competing on number of channels — or even HD. It is now broadcasters, retailers, telco, satellite and cable all competing for that relationship in the consumer’s living room. TiVo has already made nice international progress and I believe that in 12 months, you will be able to look how TiVo has addressed that opportunity and developed solutions to allow international operators to deliver,” he said.