So what about TiVo?

Remember TiVo? I got my first TiVo in 2006 and loved it. I kept getting new models when they were released until they released that ugly bent one.

You never hear about TiVo anymore. Why?

TV Answer Man Phillip Swann has some thoughts on that:

After the first five years of relentless marketing strategies, TiVo had just 700,000 subscribers.

Yes, subscribers. You had to pay a monthly fee, ranging from $10 to $13 in addition to the cost of the box which was $249 in 2003.

That was problem number one. It was too expensive.

Second, the company placed too much emphasis on retail sales rather than focusing on licensing and partnerships. Consequently, cable TV operators launched their own DVR services, which sharply limited TiVo’s growth potential.

If a cable subscriber already had a DVR service, why buy a TiVo?

They didn’t.

Third, TiVo still had to compete with the dinosaur VCR. In the early 2000s, most consumers were still happy with the VCR, particularly when they heard that TiVo required a monthly subscription. The VCR, which TiVo and DVR rival, ReplayTV, sought to replace, was still in more than 90 percent of U.S. homes.

I have a TiVo streaming device. I don't like it, and don't use it. My Streaming Life left TiVo far behind. I do miss it, though.