MUMBAI: Tivo‘s second-quarter loss widened to $15.3 million from $2.7 million. Service and technology revenues were $42.1 million, exceeding its guidance of $40 million to $42 million and compared with $48.8 million for the same period last year and $43.2 million in the prior quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA was ($6.5) million, compared to guidance of $9 million to $11 million, and $5.5 million in the same period a year ago.
Tivo has seen lower customer-addition numbers and a higher defection rate. In the most-recent quarter, the company lost 125,000 subscribers, compared with the 146,000 it lost a year earlier. Its total customer base is 22 per cent smaller than it was a year earlier and stands at 2.4 million.
Subscriber-acquisition costs fell 27 per cent. Monthly churn, or the cancellation rate, was 1.9 per cent for Tivo-owned subscribers, up from 1.5 per cent a year earlier.
Tivo president and CEO Tom Rogers says, "This quarter we put several strategic relationships in place that further demonstrate our growth plans, led by fast, cost-efficient solutions that bring the Tivo experience to consumers and operators around the world. At the same time, Tivo remains on solid financial footing, exceeding our revenue and earnings guidance and with a strong balance sheet of over $240 million in cash and short-term investments, and no debt."
Tivo has seen a progress on the mass distribution front this quarter as operators are increasingly embracing Tivo‘s solutions, not only in the U.S. but also in key international markets. In the US, operators like RCN, Suddenlink Communications, and Cox Communications are demonstrating just how quickly a Tivo solution can be deployed by repurposing its retail products.
"Internationally, Virgin Media and ONO are embracing Tivo‘s user interface because it represents a proven solution for hybrid broadband and traditional linear television platforms that can be deployed in a variety of environments. As an example of TiVo‘s rapid adoption domestically, RCN completed the rollout of TiVo Premiere, as its primary DVR offering, across its entire footprint in just three months including Washington, D.C., New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Lehigh Valley, PA, and Chicago, well ahead of schedule. The speed and ease by which RCN was able to bring the latest Tivo hardware to market underscores the value of Tivo‘s offering and will serve as a proxy for other operators who want to offer the best of cable TV and Internet delivered content in a manner that balances consumer choice and strategic control for the operator. Feedback from RCN subscribers has been extremely positive, the results are exceeding expectations and we are seeing accelerated adoption," said Rogers.
Tivo recently announced an important deal with Cox Communications, the third largest US cable television operator, to promote TiVo Premiere to its customers and, importantly, integrate access to its Cox On Demand service into Tivo Premiere.
Rogers said this is a major leap forward for the cable industry because it is the first time a cable operator will make its entire video on demand library available to a retail device.
