TiVo may well offer features of its DVR...

U.S. markets closed Tuesday, on an earnings call. TiVo has landed pacts with smaller operators including Atlantic Broadband, RCN, Ono, Suddenlink and Virgin Media, but it hasn’t gained traction in tier one U.S. cable systems, and control of the user interface, Rogers said. “There are large operators who have a particular interest in control of the user interface and we are certainly in a position that we could offer the TiVo service elements that are highly valued to a larger operator’s interface,” Rogers said. “The integrated solution is one of the most sought-after to date. But as to the views of how this is going to evolve and the importance of what we offer,” the potential for adding TiVo features to a cable operator’s user interface “exists for us.” TiVo has agreements with Comcast, under which the cable operator is selling a stand-alone TiVo DVR integrated with Xfinity on Demand in eight markets. And Charter Communications is continuing discussions with TiVo on possibly including its software as a cloud-based service’s interface option, Charter officials have said (CD Oct 11 p3). Among the features that TiVo could integrate into a user interface would be metadata, personalization that allows for the grouping of programs by individual interests, search and recommendation engines, Rogers said. TiVo also could add audience measurement and “certain” advertising capabilities, TiVo Chief Financial Officer Naveen Chopra said. It has moved search and recommendation to a cloud-based strategy, Rogers said. “There are going to be a very small number of tier one cable operators that can make very substantial investments that will carry them through with enough innovation for some period of time,” with internal R&D as their “primary path,” Rogers said. “I see that as being a very limited group and that mindset will be under constant challenges. People who really specialize in this effort can innovate faster than others in the marketplace and provide to other operators a superior service.” TiVo also is moving to have Netflix built into cable set-tops equipped with its software. Netflix in the past has had restrictions in its agreements with movie studios that prevent it from being distributed through cable set-tops in the U.S., but had no such barriers in international markets, Rogers said. While U.S. cable operators have had a “mixed view” of Netflix in the past, “we're hearing they want to include it in their distribution,” Rogers said. “To the extent those restrictions get worked out, we'll be in a position to help out partners implement on that front,” Rogers said. A Netflix spokesman declined to comment.