Post by dkennedy on Apr 13, 2006 9:54:04 GMT -5
TiVo, DirecTV Extend Pact Through 2010
April 12, 2006
Anthony Crupi, MediaWeek Magazine
TiVo announced it has extended its contract with DirecTV through 2010, although the satellite company will no longer market or distribute TiVo’s digital video recorders after February 2007.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission dated April 7, DirecTV will continue to pay TiVo for maintenance and support for its receivers through February 2010. DirecTV will also have the right to distribute TiVo units through February 2007.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but in a joint statement issued Wednesday, the companies said that the “recurring monthly economics of the agreement are similar to,” those laid out in the earlier agreement from 2003.
The deal represents a significant victory for TiVo president and CEO Tom Rogers, who took the reins just one month before DirecTV––the company’s largest distributor––said it would roll out its own in-house DVR service with an assist from corporate sibling NDS Group. A delay in deployment of the NDS boxes is likely to have contributed to the necessity for a contract extension.
Also included in the partnership is a provision that guarantees that TiVo and DirecTV will not assert patent rights against one other. TiVo is currently suing DirecTV rival EchoStar for patent infringment, charging that the company lifted proprietary technology that allows users to record one program while watching another.
April 12, 2006
Anthony Crupi, MediaWeek Magazine
TiVo announced it has extended its contract with DirecTV through 2010, although the satellite company will no longer market or distribute TiVo’s digital video recorders after February 2007.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission dated April 7, DirecTV will continue to pay TiVo for maintenance and support for its receivers through February 2010. DirecTV will also have the right to distribute TiVo units through February 2007.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but in a joint statement issued Wednesday, the companies said that the “recurring monthly economics of the agreement are similar to,” those laid out in the earlier agreement from 2003.
The deal represents a significant victory for TiVo president and CEO Tom Rogers, who took the reins just one month before DirecTV––the company’s largest distributor––said it would roll out its own in-house DVR service with an assist from corporate sibling NDS Group. A delay in deployment of the NDS boxes is likely to have contributed to the necessity for a contract extension.
Also included in the partnership is a provision that guarantees that TiVo and DirecTV will not assert patent rights against one other. TiVo is currently suing DirecTV rival EchoStar for patent infringment, charging that the company lifted proprietary technology that allows users to record one program while watching another.