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.

Solid Signal, recently mentioned for listing the THR22 DirecTiVo, is running the promotion on their site. Details as provided on the site:

How to Get TiVo for Just $9.99 a Month?

To qualify for the $9.99 a month TiVo Service you just need to purchase a TiVo Premiere, and sign up for a 1-year TiVo Service 11-15-11, using the activation code: Antenna
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**Service Bundle Offer for Antenna Owners: Save 50% off TiVo service (regular price $19.99) when you purchase a TiVo Premiere box for $99.99 and sign up for a new 1-year monthly service subscription commitment to the service at $9.99 per month, plus tax (renews monthly after 1 year at the same rate). Discount on TiVo Service pricing available for antenna customers only. Use of a CableCARD™ decoder will result in your monthly service fee being raised to the standard rate of $19.99/mo plus tax. Early termination fee and terms and conditions apply. See sales associate and tivo.com for complete details. Offer valid for TiVo Service activations on TiVo Premiere boxes through 11/15/11. TiVo reserves the right to terminate this promotion at any time without notice.

What’s not clear is what happens if you use it with analog cable, or clear QAM, without using a CableCARD. The wording of the deal sounds like you need to use a CableCARD to be disqualified, but I think the spirit of the deal is clearly meant to be antenna and no cable in any form.

TiVo is one of the best DVR solutions available to cord cutters as, aside from rolling your own with a PC, there really aren’t many ATSC DVR options available. These days TiVo is really pretty much it, at least for anything that isn’t bare bones, like the Channel Master CM-7000PAL. (It is basically a rebranded version of the discontinued Dish Network DTVPal.) For the price of the Channel Master you can get a TiVo and nearly two years of service at the lower rate, and you get lot more features. And with the OTT services supported by TiVo it is great for the antenna-broadband combo cord cutters.

While the promotion is running on Solid Signal’s page, you enter the code on TiVo’s site when activating service. I suspect you can actually use the promo code with units purchased elsewhere, such as via Amazon for $81.99.

Perhaps a better choice would be BestBuy.com though, as they’re now offering a free long-range antenna with the purchase of a TiVo Premiere. Sold as a bundle, you get the TiVo and antenna for $99.99, the price of the TiVo, saving $105.99. Presuming the ‘Antenna’ promo code does work for units purchased elsewhere you could get a TiVo, antenna, and half-price service – everything a beginning cord cutter needs.

Via Zatz Not Funny.

Some of the features, as listed by Solid Signal:

• The DIRECTV THR22 supports 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i picture resolution outputs and multiple screen formats.
• New DIRECTV Reciever with TiVo
• Pause live TV for up to 90 minutes and use rewind, instant replay and slow motion on live or recorded TV
• Does not have built in ATSC tuner
• HDMI cable included
• 500gb Hard Drive Allows up to 100 Hours of MPEG4 HD or 400 Hours of SD
• The DIRECTV THR22 includes two satellite tuners for access to SD and HD DIRECTV programming
• Access Card and Remote Control included
• Compatible with Single Wire Multiswitch (SWM) Systems
• Record up to 400 hrs of SD, up to 100 hours of HD (MPEG-4) programming
• Watch whatever you want on your own schedule. Store your favorite programs, whether standard-definition or high-definition.

So it looks like the new DirecTiVo really is coming soon.