tivo

Businessmodel of TiVo

Customer Segments

TiVo provides a wide range of digital media products, technologies, and solutions to clients operating principally in the media and publishing industry. The Company organises its customers primarily into the following core categories:

  • TV Service Providers, comprising cable network operators, satellite television providers, and other freeview and paid-for television service providers;
  • CE Manufacturers, comprising manufacturers of consumer electronics, network-connected televisions, and other devices through which consumers view on-demand and television media;
  • Streaming and Digital Media Portals, comprising a range of online media streaming portals and video-on-demand platforms;
  • Broadcasters and Content Producers, comprising broadcast networks, television and movie studios, and other producers of media contents; and
  • Music Ecosystem, comprising a range of digital music service providers and online audio streaming platforms. TiVo includes a number of well-known companies among its clients, including Facebook, Samsung, DirectTV, the NBA, Microsoft, Panasonic, Sharp, Vodafone, Virgin Media, and Atlantic Broadband. Tivo also sells products directly to consumers.

TiVo’s principal market is its native US, which accounts for the bulk of its business. The Company also serves an international client base, including in markets across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe. The Company does significant business in Japan.

Value Propositions

TiVo provides value to its clients in the following ways:

  • Its brand name and industry standing, with the Company established as a leading, and the most well-known, provider of digital media and video technology products, being the provider of choice for a range of high-profile media companies and television service providers, such as DirecTV and Virgin Media;
  • Its proprietary technologies, with the Company controlling an extensive portfolio of patents and intellectual properties that enable it to provide unique and innovative solutions, and generate revenue through the licensing of its technologies;
  • Its catalogue of ancillary services, with the Company providing a wide selection of technology and media solutions, including advanced search and recommendations solutions, metadata services, and analytics and advertising solutions;
  • Its international reach, with the Company serving a large domestic client base in the US, as well as a number of international clients across the rest of the world, notably serving clients in Japan; and
  • Its industry expertise and experience, with the Company employing a range of specialist technical personnel, enabling it to continue developing innovative and unique solutions, as well as provide effective technical support. ### Channels

TiVo operates a corporate website at www.business.tivo.com, through which it provides information on its various products, target industries, properties, and solutions.

The Company also operates a more consumer-facing website at www.tivo.com, through which customers can access the TiVo Shop, which enables consumers to browse and purchase products and manage their accounts. Additionally, TiVo operates an on-demand television streaming service at www.online.tivo.com, through which consumers can browse and view a range of television content, including live television broadcasts. The Company also offers similar functionality through its mobile app.

TiVo makes sales to commercial clients through its in-house direct sales force. These sales personnel operate out of the Company’s international network of 19 sales and administrative offices across the US, Asia Pacific, and Europe, including in Bangalore, Tokyo, London, Warsaw, and Seoul. The Company licenses its technologies and intellectual properties to a range of commercial clients, with its solutions and technology reaching consumers through a range of third-party devices and products.

Customer Relationships

TiVo provides a range of products and services to general consumers on a self-service basis, both through its online store and its digital media streaming platform. These online channels enable customers to browse products and content, make purchases and arrange deliveries, and manage account details without interacting directly with members of the Company’s sales and service teams.

TiVo works closely with its commercial clients through its direct sales and service teams. These staff consult with licensing and solutions customers over a period of time in order to establish their individual needs and circumstances, and assisting directly in the use of the Company’s properties in third-party devices. The Company seeks to maintain longstanding customer relationships, licensing its technologies for fixed terms.

TiVo provides ongoing support to its commercial customers and consumers, operating a dedicated customer support organisation. The Company provides commercial clients with a separate metadata support centre, resource centre for service providers, and ACP licensee support portal. It also offers a wide range of online resources, including white papers, case studies, FAQs, guides, and infographics through its website. Customers can also contact the Company directly over the phone or via email in order to access personalised assistance.

Additionally, TiVo operates a number of social media accounts – including with Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn – through which it is able to provide company updates and interact directly with customers.

Key Activities

TiVo functions as a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, notably Rovi Corporation and TiVo Inc, the Company provides a range of media and technology services. Through TiVo Inc, the Company is engaged in the provision of video technology software services and cloud-based software-as-a-service solutions, which offer universal search, discovery, viewing and recording functions for live, recorded, and video-on-demand media content.

Through Rovi Corporation, the Company provides a range of content discovery solutions that are embedded in its customers’s products and services to connect consumers with entertainment content, including device embedded and cloud-based interactive program guides, natural language conversational voice and text search and recommendation services, among others. TiVo serves an international client base spanning multiple sectors, including TV service providers, broadcast companies, and content producers.

Key Partners

TiVo works closely with a broad network of partners to ensure that it is able to provide effective and innovative products and solutions. These partners can be organised broadly into the following categories:

  • Supplier and Vendor Partners, comprising suppliers of equipment and services that are utilised in the development and delivery of the Company’s various products and services, as well as companies to which certain non-technical functions can be outsourced;
  • Content and Television Operator Partners, comprising a range of cable and satellite television service providers, with which the Company works on developing and implementing media content technology solutions;
  • Intellectual Property Partners, comprising a range of intellectual property owners and technology companies, with which the Company shares various properties and technologies; and
  • Strategic and Alliance Partners, comprising a range of market leading companies across multiple industries, with which the Company works on various joint projects, including in marketing and branding. TiVo has a number of partnerships in place. This includes a partnership with Viacom to share data with advertisers, a partnership with Intellectual Ventures to share their property portfolios, and a technology sharing partnership with Netflix.

Key Resources

TiVo’s key resources are its technologies and intellectual properties, its online store and media streaming service, its IT and communications infrastructure, its sales and marketing channels, its network of partners, and its personnel.

TiVo controls a patent portfolio of more than 5,400 issued and pending patents that is key to the success of its Intellectual Property Licensing segment. Searches of records published by the US Patent and Trademark Office identified numerous patent applications filed in TiVo’s name, including applications entitled ‘Media content fingerprinting system’, ‘Data storage management and scheduling system’ and ‘Automatic commercial playback system’.

TiVo also owns and or leases a number of physical properties across the US, Europe, and Asia Pacific, which comprise the Company’s network of sales and administrative offices, and support centres.

Cost Structure

TiVo incurs costs in relation to the development of its technologies and intellectual properties, the development and maintenance of its online platforms, the maintenance of its IT and communications infrastructure, the procurement of supplies and services, the operation of its sales and marketing channels, the management of its partnerships, the implementation of marketing and advertising campaigns, and the retention of its personnel.

In 2015 TiVo recorded cost of revenues in the amount of $102.97 million, research and development expenses in the amount of $100.63 million, and selling, general and administrative costs in the amount of $154.45 million.

Revenue Streams

TiVo generates revenue through the provision of various media and technology solutions – including advertising, analytics, and metadata solutions – and the licensing of its various intellectual properties.

In 2015 TiVo generated revenue for the year totalling $526.27 million, up on the $542.31 million recorded by the Company in 2014. The Company’s largest revenue generator was its Intellectual Property Licensing segment, which generated annual revenue of $281.82 million.

The Company’s Product segment generated revenue for the year of $244.45 million, with the remaining revenue attributed to other corporate activities.

Written on October 25, 2017