DirecTV TiVo DVRs coming to select markets this week?
After a long wait, DirecTV customers in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and other major markets might be able to get their hands on a TiVo, according to a forum posting.
After a multiyear drought that has left many DirecTV customers peeved, TiVo-based devices might be coming back to the satellite provider's service later this week.
According to DirecTV forum poster, "Val_Installs," DirecTV will be launching a TiVo HD DVR on Thursday. For now, the person says, TiVo's set-top box will be available in just 10 major markets, including New York, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. There is no word on when the national rollout might occur, but the user said that it's currently "being evaluated" by the company.
Although a simple forum posting isn't typically a good source of information, this one might be different. The information was posted in the DirecTV technical forums where customers can ask company employees, including installers, for help with their products. "Val_installs" has posted frequently on those forums, and appears to be a DirecTV employee, as designated by the company's logo next to the person's name.
Moreover, last month, TiVo CEO Tom Rogers told investors that his company's DVR would be available to DirecTV customers "in early December," adding that "DirecTV has informed us that they intend to launch the TiVo DirecTV product in select markets."
DirecTV customers have been waiting years for a TiVo device to be made available to them again. Although DirecTV's first DVRs shipped with TiVo's technology, its second wave of set-top boxes were based on technology from NDS, a U.K. company that offered services similar to TiVo's. That decision resulted in a strained relationship between DirecTV and TiVo before the companies announced a new partnership in 2008.
At that time, the companies said that they would make a TiVo device available to DirecTV subscribers in the second half of 2009. Soon after, that launch was pushed back to 2010. Last October, the companies said that they would again push the launch date back to 2011.
Once TiVo launches to DirecTV customers, they can expect to pay a bit more, "Val_installs" claims in the forum, citing a TiVo Overview document attached to the post and purported to come from the satellite provider.
"The TiVo HD DVR will carry a $5 per month TiVo service fee, which is in addition to the $10 per month HD Access fee and the $7 per month DVR service fee," the poster writes.
DirecTV has not immediately responded for CNET's request for confirmation of the claims made by the forum poster and Tom Rogers.