The TiVo boxes that were at the forefront of TV’s time-shifted viewing revolution in the early 2000s are no more. The company confirmed to Variety that it officially exited the hardware business on October 1, when it stopped selling physical DVR products. This means that TiVo hardware and accessories, which were sold online and through distributors until this fall, are officially off the market.
“While TiVo is no longer manufacturing hardware and our remaining inventory has been depleted, we will continue to provide support for our products,” the company told Variety. “We are very proud of the legacy of our TiVo DVR. The great experience TiVo has always delivered lives on in TiVo OS for Connected TVs, available on Sharp in the U.S. and on multiple brands of TVs across Europe.”
The fact that TiVo will continue to provide support for these now obsolete boxes will probably come as some comfort to those who purchased the service’s “lifetime plan.”
TiVo’s latest digital video recorder, called “TiVo Edge,” was announced in October 2019. The device includes 4K Dolby Vision HDR video playback with Dolby Atmos sound and can be used to both record live TV and access various streaming apps. Versions included one for cable users (with 6 tuners and a 2 TB hard drive) and one for cord cutters (with 4 tuners and a 2 TB hard drive).
TiVo Edge is the 7th generation TiVo DVR manufactured by Arris. The original Series 1 TiVo, released in March 1999, was manufactured by Philips.
Television industry executives were initially concerned about the then-nascent TiVo technology’s commercial zapping capabilities. “We shouldn’t ignore the fact that we’re in a bind and it’s on the horizon,” Gail Berman, then president of Fox Entertainment, said of the DVR threat at a 2003 Hollywood Radio and Television Association luncheon. “This business is going to change, and it’s up to us to decide how to change it.”
Eventually, networks adopted TiVo and its rival DVRs after seeing how the devices could actually help increase regular series viewing. The Television Academy awarded TiVo an Interactive TV Emmy Award in 2006 for “seamlessly connecting consumers to the digital entertainment they want, whenever and wherever they want.”
However, as cable operators began incorporating DVRs into their set-top boxes, TiVo struggled to sell its devices in the consumer market. The company focuses on licensing TiVo-branded software and technology to cable operators and other third-party devices. Then, the streaming revolution changed the way people watch TV, with viewers turning to cloud-based on-demand options rather than recording and storing their own libraries.
The end of TiVo Edge has been looming for some time. In February 2024, TiVo stopped selling the antenna (“cord cutter”) version of the device on its website. According to users, TiVo Mini LUX and TiVo Stream 4K followed, and the last product, TiVo Edge DVR for cable, was discontinued at the end of September.
The website Cord Cutters News first reported last week that TiVo’s official website has removed references to the company’s hardware DVR products, including the TiVo Edge. The website points out how streaming changed the game while cable companies focused on their own cloud DVRs, and then says that “regulatory changes, including the phasing out of support for CableCARD technology, which is essential to TiVo’s cable compatibility, further strained the viability of consumer hardware.”
TiVo’s website currently offers two options to users. One is a smart TV proposal that licenses TiVo technology, and the other is a DTS AutoStage video service for cars.
