While I dig pay television content and broadband, I can’t say I always dig the cable company. Historically, I haven’t had the greatest experiences with things like billing or installs. Those installs, in particular, have been a recurring pain point. With a 25% no-show rate, the possibly high contractor who had to be escorted out after getting aggressive, his replacement drilling through the wall as intended and continuing on into our dresser as not intended, having to call the franchising authority to encourage Comcast to locate CableCARDs, etc.

So, upon making the move from DC’s Maryland suburbs to the Virginia equivalent I flirted with the idea of giving up cable. Well, most cable. Since dissembling the home theater and selling my place in 2005, we’ve lived like gypsys… and our new rental community bundles basic cable into our monthly fees (for $45). I figured SD CNN would satisfy Melissa and I’d get my fix of HD video over-the-air and via Netflix. Unfortunately, given the construction of our building or our location, I haven’t been able to tune a single major network OTA (WJLA and WUSA haven’t helped the situation) using several indoor antennas and tuning devices. Combined with Verizon raising their FiOS Internet fees, I pretty much had to re-up with cable (we face east and north – no satellite options available).

As if CableCARDs weren’t complex enough to implement with Comcast, Cox Communications here in Virginia utilizes SDV – so TiVo owners also require fugly “tuning adapters” mated to their units via coax and USB to handle switched programming. (Some of my thoughts on the industry cluster here.) At least they’re provided free, although commentary on the TiVo Community indicates reboots are periodically required to keep everything synced up and that they may unintentionally inject copy protection flags – limiting the usefulness of multi-room viewing and TiVoToGo.

Bottom line, after an 8 hour ordeal yesterday, I’m up and running on 3 CableCARDs, 2 tuning adapters, and a cable modem. Cox HD looks great and we may receive even more channels than Comcast. Plus, broadband speeds are very good (see pic below) on the mid-tier package which runs $38ish/mo. All I need now is some sort of stand or entertainment center to house the living room plasma.

For the complete blow by blow of how the install process played out, here’s a capture of my Twitter feed:

• 3 CableCARDs, 2 tuning adapters, and 1 modem scheduled for install tomorrow, 10-12. I’ll surely tweet Cox’s performance.
• Why is QVC selling Christmas lights this morning? And why am I even channel surfing QVC?
• I have no idea where my new cable operator puts channels? Waiting for the installer with CableCARDs this AM. We shall see…
• Yep, Cox installers suck as bad as Comcast. Received a voicemail on my work line that no one’s home, call to reschedule. BS.
• After 30 minutes with three phone reps, they’ll try again after 1PM.
• I just turned off Google Voice’s requirement to announce your name to prevent further confusion of/by the cable guy. *shakes head*
• Oh, and I offered to pick up the three CableCARDs. But apparently installing them is highly technical and requires a home visit. Uh-huh.
• With a $30 per television CableCARD “installation” fee, I’d rather sit on hold to activate them myself.
• I hooked up the cable modem while installer wrestles CableCARDs and tuning adapters. Going on 2+ hrs.
• There’s gotta be a better way.
• Success. Finally. I need a beer.
• Glorious, glorious HD. How I missed you. Cox’s Internet speeds are solid, too. Getting 25+ down on the $38/mo plan. Why’d FiOS raise rates?

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During their ten year history, TiVo’s obituary has been written more times than I’ve sat through an entire commercial, yet no matter how steep the climb, TiVo has continued to defy critics and skeptics alike by chugging along.

Even though the financial wiz kids over at Engadget, still have TiVo on their “death watch”, I’m beginning to see a much different picture. With 6 quarters of EBITA profitability now under their belt, $200 million in cash (minus the zero in debt on their balance sheet), and partnerships with a significant portion of the DVR market waiting to be implemented and rolled out, it’s no surprise that TiVo has gone from being a small cap child with plenty of dissenters, to an emerging mid cap teenager looking to establish a legacy.

The last ten years may have been characterized by one rumor after another of who TiVo was going to be acquired by next, but the next ten years will be a much different chapter for the little DVR that could. At the risk of counting my chickens before they hatch (I’m a TiVo shareholder), I wanted to kick off the next ten years of innovation by highlighting a few companies that TiVo could use to transition themselves from a niche DVR provider to a diversified corporate conglomerate. Of course there’s no guarantee that TiVo will even get the billion dollars that they are asking for, but it’s fun to spend imaginary money.

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TiVo gets a mixed review when it comes to online community outreach (aka “Social Media” – whatever that means). They pioneered customer engagement on a company-focused forum. Yet, TiVo has stumbled in the blogosphere…. from joining the conversation late (and still currently suffering from trust issues) to their own craptastic blog initiative. Fortunately, they’re leading the way again when it comes to Twitter (and FriendFeed) and I’ve compiled a list of TiVo folks worth following.

TWTRCON, Jerad Hill Photographer

TiVo’s primary Twitter account is helmed by Shanan Carney, “the voice of TiVo,” who owners have probably encountered in various TiVo videos and lurking on the TCF. I’m not sure how many of the others listed below are officially sanctioned spokespeople. And maybe company independence a good thing. Unlike many Twitter monologue spammers marketers, these appear to be real people with real personalities that just so happen to love (?) and work for TiVo.

Keep in mind this isn’t a comprehensive roundup of all TiVo employees who’ve infiltrated Twitter. In fact, I’ve excised multiple individuals that I follow who don’t explicitly mention TiVo within their profiles. However, do what you must in the comments.

Shanan Carney
THE TiVo Diva

Bob Poniatowski
Director, Product Marketing

Stephen Mack
Director, TiVoCast Operations

Margret Schmidt
Vice President, User Experience

Amir Gharaat
Director, Product Management

William Uranga
Talent Acquisition

Kimberly  McKinnis
System Operations Engineer

Andrew Pray
TiVo PR, Ruder Finn

Robbee Minicola
CEO Hybrid TV (TiVo Australia)

A few TiVo-related Twitter personalities to check out:

• TiVoBlog
• TiVoUpgrade
• TiVoGuy
• WeaKnees
• pyTiVo

While the “FakeIndividual” meme is probably beat, CEO Tom Rogers’s absence from Twitter (as far as we know) has motivated Davis Freeberg and I to reserve the FakeTomRogers. Stay tuned. Maybe.

Normally, when perusing the various legal briefs and news coverage out of the epic and ongoing TiVo v DISH/EchoStar DVR patent dispute, my eyes glaze over (see: Boredom in the Courtroom). Today’s a bit different. A ZNF reader who’s been tracking this case, and who I presume to be a shareholder, forwarded DISH’s latest filing (7/13, PACER). The document in and of itself isn’t so interesting to the casual observer. However, it does reveal some astonishing content from within TiVo’s recent sealed motion (6/27) of sanctions for contempt of the permanent injunction:

TiVo’s response on the issue of judicial economy is that the sanctions hearing set for later this month will be short because each side was allowed only 30 minutes for argument. This simplistic retort ignores the substantial work for this Court — reviewing briefing, case law, and complicated financial evidence — that will be required for consideration of TiVo’s motion, which seeks nearly $1 billion in contempt sanctions.

There’s really not much to say other than: That’s a sh*tload of money. (While I’m having NTP flashbacks, TiVo actually has a product, business partners, and customers.) One thing’s for sure, if TiVo expects to see this kind of cash award, they’re going to need to buy a few more cows.

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You probably don’t remember that Humax LCD TV with builtin TiVo… which never launched in 2005. As a clutter-free minimalist (to the best of my ability), I do. And TiVo’s new tie-up with Best Buy indicates they’re going down this path again, entering the Internet Widget TV fray under the Insignia brand:

As part of the deal, the companies also said that Best Buy would finance an effort to bring TiVo’s software and search tools to Best Buy’s own brand of consumer electronics, like its Insignia high-definition TVs.

Of course, there’s no timing info. Given TiVo’s track record of glacially slow development, I’d say we might see a tru2way television in 2011. If ever. In the interim, Best Buy will heavily pump TiVo in their retail locations while the TiVo service will push Best Buy ads and develop a streaming Napster widget.

TiVo’s User Experience veep Margret Schmidt, @tivodesign, queried her Twitter followers last night:

Broadband-connected TiVo DVR users: do you use “Search by Title” or “TiVo Search” in “Find Programs” to find shows? Why?

I don’t know if this was an informal usability poll or more in the way of Twitter marketing. In all likelihood, it’s a bit of both. But if my early morning math is correct, ~90% of Twitter respondents prefer the original, less powerful Search by Title. Of those, the majority cited TiVo Search’s speed issue as a factor in their choice. No surprise, really. The new 16×9 optimized UI is beautiful to look at, but too slow to launch and frequently laggy when active. Which is typical of all the tacked on “HME” Java apps, pulling UI elements and data from the cloud. And the primary reason why I prefer the sprightly, little $99 Roku box over TiVo for Amazon VOD and Netflix streaming.

I doubt these performance observations come as a surprise to TiVo, and it’s something I’ve previously discussed with product guys Jim Denney and Bob Pony. I’m hopeful they’re working on a variety of improvements – such as caching graphics locally or even replacing/updating the entire OS (without requiring new hardware). Time will tell.

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Bonus Coverage: While at Dash Navigation, I worked for/with Robert Currie, one of the guys behind Strangeberry – the Java platform and company, acquired by TiVo, that played an instrumental role in producing HME.

I hate to admit it, but I’m feeling a little foolish right now. Last week, I raised the question of whether or not Dish was researching a hostile takeover of TiVo. In my article, I concluded that they might try, but that they’d never be able to afford the $7.5 billion poison pill that came with it.

Since then, I’ve spent more time researching the pill and realize that I made a terrible mistake. Not only is there an antidote, but Dish may already have it.

Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this pill, but could never figure a way around it. It wasn’t until I asked myself a simple question, that the solution became so obvious. What would Charlie do?

Love him or hate him Dish CEO Charlie Ergen has a special kind of brilliance. His reputation as a fearsome litigator is legendary and more than once he has demonstrated his mastery for the fine art of negotiation. Over the years, his decisions have created huge growth for Dish (albeit at great risks.) Unfortunately, his penchant for the legal system may have finally caught up with him and now he finds himself struggling in quicksand with the prospect of having to buy rope from TiVo.

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