DirecTV Goes Wide With 'Classic' TiVo HD DVR

Satellite operator offers service for additional $5 per month

By Todd Spangler, Multichannel News -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/9/2012 11:40:29 AM

DirecTV is once again offering a TiVo DVR to all its U.S. customers -- for the first time in seven years -- although the box uses TiVo's older, standard-definition user interface and lacks certain DirecTV features, including multiroom DVR.

In December, DirecTV launched a 10-market initial deployment of the TiVo DVR in December. The set-top is $199, plus a monthly service fee of $12 per month (which includes a $7 monthly charge for the DirecTV DVR service as well as $5 monthly for the TiVo service).

The satellite operator's TiVo HD DVR was three years in the making, and two years behind schedule. The box uses TiVo's "classic" user interface, instead of the newer Premiere guide, which among other things means it has a 4:3 aspect ratio.

"We are pleased to answer the call of TiVo fans by making the new TiVo HD DVR from DirecTV available nationwide," DirecTV senior vice president of product management Tony Goncalves said in a statement. "DirecTV has a long-standing reputation for offering our customers the best in advanced programming and services and they now have even more DVR options with this new TiVo-enabled platform."

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