A couple of weeks ago we got wind of TiVo’s half-price service promotion for antenna users. Today Antennas Direct
put out a press release to announce that they’re partnered with TiVo to promote this deal on their site
.
The press release:
The rapid shift of consumers cancelling pay TV is creating new alliances aimed at freeing consumers from the high cost of traditional pay TV. One such partnership has been formed between Antennas Direct, a leading manufacturer of television antennas, and TiVo, pioneers of the digital video recorder (DVR). This partnership, whose goal is to encourage over-the-air viewership, is the first-of-its-kind between an antenna manufacturer and TiVo.
“Most consumers are still unaware that HDTV is free, and that TiVo DVRs contain a DTV tuner, allowing that free HDTV broadcast to be viewed and recorded,” said Richard Schneider, president of Antennas Direct. “When paired with a digital antenna, TiVo is the multichannel provider of the 21st century, integrating broadband and over-the-air digital content at a fraction of the cost of cable.”
As part of this exclusive partnership, Best Buy has teamed with Antennas Direct and TiVo to carry a promotional package featuring a free ClearStream 2 ($100 MSRP) with purchase of a TiVo Premiere box for $99.99. The TiVo Premiere subscription is available for $9.95 per month, a special rate only available for use with an antenna. This special offer is valid through October 2.
“The Antennas Direct partnership with TiVo marries both state of the art antennas and DVR’s in one affordable package to unlock the full potential of digital, over-the-air and broadband television,” said Schneider. “TiVo has created the first system to integrate over-the-air HDTV and broadband content in one easy to use device, the combination of which is turning the pay TV business model on its head.”
Today, more than 46 million households view television through an antenna, up from 42 million just one year ago. That number continues to grow as consumers cancel pay TV service in record numbers. The Antennas Direct and TiVo alliance will liberate millions from an unhappy relationship with their pay TV provider while putting over a billion dollars back in the pockets of consumers.
They’re selling TiVo Premiere units and network adapters directly through the Antennas Direct store. As well as promoting the $99.99 Best Buy Long-Range Antenna & TiVo Premiere bundle special
we mentioned in our earlier post.
While the press release calls this an announcement, I noticed that Antennas Direct mentioned this promotion on their blog
back on August 31, so I’m not sure why they waited to put out the press release.
While the press release says this is an exclusive deal, I’ll note that Solid Signal is offering the same promotion on their site.
Pocket-lint is reporting that Virgin Media will no longer be sourcing the hardware for their TiVo service from Cisco. Instead they’ll be turning to Samsung for the next generation of their TiVo hardware. This may be the first fruit of TiVo’s deal with Samsung, announced a year ago, on 9/11/2010. The Samsung hardware will begin deployment later this year. Details of the box are sparse as Virgin Media and Samsung haven’t officially unveiled it yet. That is expected to happen today, 9/9, at the IBC Expo in Amsterdam.
Pocket-lint managed to obtain the following image of the new box. You can see it doesn’t differ greatly from the current Cisco hardware, pictured above.
