The Dish on TiVo

Todd Chanko | October 04, 2006, 04:01 PM

"Death By a Thousand Cuts" - if it's not a film noir title on Turner Classic Movies to be recorded on my DVR, it ought to be. In fact, what it is is the unenviable position in which Tom Rogers, CEO of TiVo, finds himself. Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit blocked the injunction against Echostar, which would have prevented the number two US satellite operator from continuing to offer DVR service. TiVo had won a reprieve recently when the Texas court ruled in its favor, granting the injunction and fining Echostar almost $90 million.

Yet, while a close reading of the product descriptions of the DVRs offered by both providers reveals some differences - notably, TiVo's attempt to be as cross-platform as possible - at the core, the functionalities are the same. In essence, the DVR biz is a commodity biz - and while features may be important at the margins, it's a pricing game. TiVo may yet win in its battle with Echostar, potentially forcing the company to recall millions of DVRs, increasing churn and rendering life difficult for hapless DISH customer service reps. But the war is over, proving once again that in science and industry, being first-to-market is not necessarily an advantage.

Now let's go to the IMDB to check out that "thousand cuts" title...