March 8, 2006 4:20 PM PST
TiVo's lifetime service plan dies
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For some time, customers of the leading digital video recorder technology and service provider have been able to pay a $299 flat fee for lifetime TiVo service. But the Alviso, Calif., company said it plans to eliminate that option as of next week.
"Clearly, it's something that's had some popularity with our subscriber base," said Todd Juenger, TiVo's vice president of strategic planning.
"We understand it's a great value, but in balancing trying to provide customers with great value and our own business interests, we think it was too far in favor of good value to make sense for us financially," Juenger said.
TiVo customers who already have the lifetime plan will not be affected, according to the company.
Now, TiVo said it hopes to keep attracting new customers by offering several service packages that include its 80-hour Series2 DVR boxes in the price and that therefore require no up-front hardware investment.
Customers signing a one-year plan will pay $19.95 a month for TiVo service and a box, while a two-year commitment lowers the price to $18.95 a month, and a three-year agreement to $16.95 a month.
The company's decision to include its equipment as part of service plans is not a surprise. Last month, CEO Tom Rodgers hinted that the company was leaning that way.
In a statement Wednesday, Rodgers said, "Over the past several months, we have done extensive research on our pricing strategy and distribution model with a focus on finding the simplest and most efficient way to increase sales and drive penetration of the TiVo service."
Last week, TiVo announced KidZone, a service that enables parents to search for programming appropriate for their children and separate those shows from content recorded for adults.
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* The price for a TiVo box and a one-year service commitment is $19.95 a month or $224 prepaid
* The price for a TiVo box and a two-year service commitment is $18.95 a month or $369 prepaid
* The price for a TiVo box and a three-year service commitment is $16.95 a month or $469 prepaid
Also, these plans are only for units purchased directly from TiVo. New plans are expected for units purchased at retail, but those details have not been released at this time.
As for lifetime being 'popular', I recall from previous TiVo conference calls that fewer than 20% of TiVo subscribers opted for the lifetime plan. So it wasn't all that popular. I used it on all 5 units I've owned, three of which I've resold, and I always encouraged people to use it - but most people just didn't want to pay up front.
the lifetime service plan. It's was the only way to go
considering they've been constantly raising their monthly rates.
Oh well, I've also got an Elgato eyeTV hooked to my Mac Mini
and it does everything the Tivo does (with the exception of a
Season Pass) and it lets me edit and export my content to iPod,
DVD, etc..
This announce means my current Tivo is my last Tivo.
I love my Tivo, I wanted a 2nd one but They would not give me a price cut on the lifetime service, and I was not going to pay another 300$, so I never got a 2nd..
And Now I never will buy another one, I am not paying another monthly fee NO WAY!
I tried to get friends to get a Tivo as well and one friend was going to get it but they told him they no longer offered the life time service so he told em where they could stick it.
Yes the Tivo is dead! it wa snice while it lasted.
PS are the CEO of Tivo and SONY related?
They must be they both seem to have the same bad judgment.
migraine@knology.net
I love my Tivo, I wanted a 2nd one but They would not give me a price cut on the lifetime service, and I was not going to pay another 300$, so I never got a 2nd..
And Now I never will buy another one, I am not paying another monthly fee NO WAY!
I tried to get friends to get a Tivo as well and one friend was going to get it but they told him they no longer offered the life time service so he told em where they could stick it.
Yes the Tivo is dead! it wa snice while it lasted.
PS are the CEO of Tivo and SONY related?
They must be they both seem to have the same bad judgment.
migraine@knology.net
As others have said here, TiVo's days are numbered. I'm glad I didn't get the $300 lifetime subscription (which they're going to discontinue).
Starting next week, there is no lifetime, and the 3 year plan costs 17*36 = 612. So there's about a 60 dollar savings - for the first 3 years. However, after that, tivo appears to be open to raise the prices if they wish. And nearly every penny is going to go towards the service, rather than towards the box.
Of course, if you buy this week, there's also a $150 mail in rebate, which appears to apply to a variety of cases, according to the web site. In theory, that would take the 520 down to 370 - which means that the price next week would be nearly double this week's price... for the same thing.
RIP Tivo.
- TiVo could have been the iTunes of video
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by frankz00
March 9, 2006 9:01 AM PST
- But they consistently pissed away every opportunity of being so. Right down to the missing ethernet jack on the box. They could have kept the pricing as is and used TiVo as a platform to download missed shows, other shows and movies at a price. Why not sell movies that are out in theaters right on the TiVo box for a premium? Anything would have been better than this dumb move.
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See all 25 Comments >>The proposed model is going to destroy the company!