Comcast to Deploy Xfinity Service on TiVo Premiere DVRs
As TiVo and Comcast prepare to deploy Comcast’s Xfinity on Demand service on TiVo’s Premiere DVRs, they halted expansion of a test that downloaded DVR software to cable set-top boxes, a Comcast spokeswoman confirmed.
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Comcast will maintain service in the Boston area for those customers that downloaded TiVo software to Motorola set-tops, the Comcast spokeswoman said. But the companies’ future focus will be on the pairing of TiVo Premiere DVRs and Xfinity. Xfinity will be available on Premiere DVRs sold at retail starting with the San Francisco market in the second half, the Comcast spokeswoman said. Other markets will be added in the fall. TiVo Premiere DVRs will be bought at retail and Comcast will provide and install the cable cards needed for the service, the spokeswoman said. Xfinity will be free on TiVo Premiere DVRs, the companies said.
Comcast began testing TiVo in the Boston area in 2008, but the deployment suffered from “infrastructure” instability in downloading the software to customer homes, TiVo CEO Tom Rogers said. Comcast, which once planned to expand the download option to Chicago, halted the rollout for several months to resolve technical issues, but resumed marketing in the Boston area in fall 2009.
Comcast ended funding earlier this year for the TiVo engineering program that developed software for Comcast’s STBs. The pact expired Dec. 31, but the companies continued talks about further “development and deployment opportunities,” TiVo has said. TiVo keeps the rights to software developed for Comcast STBs as well as its advertising management system, it said in an SEC filing. Comcast retains IP rights that TiVo granted it under the 2005 agreement and has options for renewals through March 15, 2019, TiVo said.
The new agreement separates Comcast from several other cable operators, including Cox and RCN, that are reselling TiVo Premiere DVRs. Comcast’s choice of making Xfinity available as service rather than reselling TiVo DVRs was prompted by a desire “to offer our customers more choice and content,” the Comcast spokeswoman said. The San Francisco market was chosen to launch the Xfinity/TiVo Premiere service because of its proximity to Silicon Valley and TiVo’s Alviso, Calif., headquarters, as well as a large number of Comcast customers, the Comcast spokeswoman said.