"We will be highly focused this year on moving forward with a lower-priced, mass appeal High-Def unit, which will allow us to much better participate in the HD television trend," Rogers said yesterday.
The TiVo Series 3 HD DVR now has a suggested retail price of $799, although some retailers are selling it for around $625.
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See our Online Poll on TiVo's HD DVR
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Even at the discounted $625 price, the device is a hefty
investment for high-def owners who can lease HD
recorders from their cable or satellite providers for
$10 a month or less.
Rogers acknowledged that TiVo's HD DVR price hurt
the company's chances of generating more subs from
the growing high-def audience.
"The
other clear learning at retail is that
High-Definition television sets are the most
important new consumer electronics item," Rogers
told Wall Street analysts yesterday in a conference
call. "Given the price of our HD unit, we were not
able to meaningfully participate in that trend. This
also clearly contributed to lower sales volume
compared to a year ago, when this trend was nowhere
near as significant."
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Rogers did not reveal what price TiVo may stamp on a future HD DVR, but he suggested that a price drop is crucial to future sub growth.
"We had a very high price unit there and so our HD product performed at expectations, which were modest given its price," he said.
The TiVo chief made his remarks yesterday following the release of the company's fourth quarter report.
TiVo reported yesterday that its net losses had declined ($18.7 million in the fourth quarter compared to $21.1 million in the previous 4Q) but said subscriptions increased just 0.2 percent (101,000 increase) over the third quarter. TiVo now has 4.4 million subscribers.
See review of TiVo's Series3 HD DVR.
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Phillip Swann is president and publisher of
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Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial
Times, The Associated Press and The Hollywood
Reporter. He can be reached at
swann@tvpredictions.com
or at 703-505-3064.
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