TiVo ( TEE-voh) is a discontinued line of digital video recorders (DVR) developed and marketed by Xperi (previously by TiVo Corporation and TiVo Inc.) and introduced in 1999. TiVo provides an on-screen guide of scheduled broadcast programming television programs, whose features include "OnePass" schedules which record every new episode of a series, and wishlist searches which allow the user to find and record shows that match their interests by title, actor, director, category, or keyword. TiVo also provides a range of features when the TiVo DVR is connected to a home network, including film and TV show downloads, advanced search, online scheduling, and at one time, personal photo viewing and local music playback. After its launch in its home market of the United States, TiVo units were also sold in Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Sweden, Taiwan, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Later models adopted the CableCARD standard, which is only deployed in the United States, and which limits the availability of certain features. TiVo discontinued its DVR hardware products in October 2025.
History
TiVo was developed by Jim Barton and Mike Ramsay through a corporation they named "Teleworld" which was later renamed TiVo Inc. Though they originally intended to create a home network device, it was redesigned as a device that records digitized video onto a hard disk. After exhibiting at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 1997, Mike Ramsay announced to the company that the first version of the TiVo digital video recorder would be released "in Q1" (the last day of which is March 31) despite an estimated 4 to 5 months of work remaining to complete the device. Because March 31, 1999 was a blue moon, the engineering staff code-named this first version of the TiVo DVR "Blue Moon". The original TiVo DVR digitized and compressed analogue video from any source (antenna, cable or direct broadcast satellite). TiVo also integrated its DVR service into the set-top boxes of satellite and cable providers. In late 2000, Philips Electronics introduced the DSR6000, the first DirecTV receiver with an integrated TiVo DVR. This new device, nicknamed the "DirecTiVo", stored digital signals sent from DirecTV directly onto a hard disk. In early 2000, TiVo partnered with electronics manufacturer Thomson Multimedia (now Technicolor SA) and broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting to deliver the TiVo service in the UK market. This partnership resulted in the Thomson PVR10UK, a stand-alone receiver released in October 2000 that was based on the original reference design used in the United States by both Philips and Sony. TiVo ended UK unit sales in January 2003, though it continued to sell subscriptions and supply guide data to existing subscribed units until June 2011. TiVo branded products returned to the UK during 2010 under an exclusive partnership with cable TV provider Virgin Media. TiVo was launched in Australia in July 2008 by Hybrid Television Services, a company owned by Australia's Seven Media Group and New Zealand's TVNZ. TiVo Australia also launched a TiVo with a 320Gb hard Drive in 2009. TiVo Australia also launched Blockbuster on demand and in December 2009 launched a novel service called Caspa on Demand. TiVo also went on sale in New Zealand on 6 November 2009. Janet Jackson's Super Bowl halftime show incident on February 1, 2004, set a record for being the most watched, recorded and replayed moment in TiVo history. The baring of one of Jackson's breasts at the end of her duet with Justin Timberlake, which caused a flood of outraged phone calls to CBS, was replayed a record number of times by TiVo users. A company representative stated, "The audience measurement guys have never seen anything like it. The audience reaction charts looked like an electrocardiogram."
In April 2016, Rovi acquired TiVo for $1.1 billion. In December 2019, it was announced that TiVo would merge with Xperi Corporation. The merger completed in May 2020. In early February 2024, TiVo removed the antenna version of the TiVo Edge from their website, apparently discontinuing their OTA line of DVRs. The cable version of the TiVo Edge as well as the TiVo Mini LUX and TiVo Stream 4K continued to be available. The TiVo Mini LUX went permanently out of stock in June/July 2025. It has yet to be clarified when the TiVo Stream 4K was discontinued. The TiVo Edge DVR for Cable, along with all remaining hardware accessories, were removed from sale on TiVo's website in late September/early October 2025, and sales of annual and lifetime service subscriptions were discontinued, leaving monthly subscriptions as the only remaining service option for TiVo Roamio, TiVo BOLT, and TiVo Edge boxes that do not already have active service plans. Variety reported that TiVo had exited the hardware manufacturing business on October 1, 2025, and that remaining inventory had been depleted. Despite the discontinuation, TiVo continues to manufacture its TiVo OS brand of smart TV devices, among a few other products.
Service
A TiVo DVR serves a function similar to that of a videocassette recorder (VCR), in that both allow a TV viewer to record programming for viewing at a later time, known as time shifting. Unlike a videocassette recorder, which uses removable magnetic tape cartridges, a TiVo DVR stores TV programs on an internal hard drive, much like a computer. A TiVo DVR also automatically records programs that the user is likely to be interested in. TiVo DVRs also implement a patented feature that TiVo calls "trick play", allowing the viewer to pause live television and rewind and replay up to 30 minutes of recently viewed TV. TiVo DVRs can be connected to a computer local area network, allowing the TiVo device to download information, access video streaming services such as Netflix or Hulu, as well as music from the Internet.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
