According to USAToday, Tivo failed to anticipate how quickly its customers would fall in love with HDTV—and out of love with TiVo.

“We’re at a turning point in the retail environment,” said CEO Tom Rogers. HDTV growth “progressed at a pace that surprised many in the industry, including us.”

Now people are wondering if TiVo has what it takes to compete with the cable and satellite DVRs. From USAToday:

Rogers was upbeat about deals with Comcast (CMCSA) and Cox. Comcast is about to roll out a long-awaited offering of TiVo as a premium service for its HD DVRs. It will begin in the next few weeks for systems in Boston, southeast Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Comcast has funded development of TiVo software that runs on boxes with different technologies.

Still, TiVo shares dropped 4.2%, to $5.94 in after-hours trading following its posting of a $17.7 million loss in the quarter, compared with a $3.5 million loss in the same period last year. Revenue was $62.7 million, up 5.9%. TiVo had predicted a loss of as much as $8 million.

TiVo also hopes that the “CableCard” technology will help its DVRs compete in a world where a cable box is no longer required. We hope so. Our readers seem to heart their TiVos.

Which DVRs do you like the best? What are you looking for in a DVR? Do you want one branded by your cable company? A separate one? A media PC? What’s up?

TiVo takes hit from HDTV growth [USAToday]
(Photo:rcrowley)

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