Tivo Increases Rates
Posted by Sean Fallon on November 6, 2006
Filed Under Misc. Gadgets | Stumble This
Starting this month, Tivo will be increasing their standard and multi-unit discount fees.
“1. At the time of activation of a TiVo Service Only Payment Plan, you will be required to commit to the TiVo service for a minimum of one (1) year.
2. You may choose to either: (a) pay for your TiVo service on a monthly basis for three (3) years at $12.95 per month; two (2) years at $14.95 per month; or one (1) year at $19.95 per month; or (b) prepay for your TiVo service.”
“The MULTI-SERVICE DISCOUNT reduces the Monthly TiVo service or TiVo Plus service subscription fee by $6 per month to $6.95 per month for (3) years; $8.95 per month for (2) years; or $13.95 per month for (1) year while in compliance with all applicable Initial Qualification and General Eligibility requirements.”
The whole Tivo pricing policy is, in a word, confusing - and that is a major part of the problem.
The bottom line here is that Tivo is facing stiff competition from all sides, and now is not the time to be screwing around with your customers if you want to survive.
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5 Responses to “Tivo Increases Rates”
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It is a bit confusing, but they’ve actually simplified their pricing. There used to be one set of prices for bundles and one set of prices for service on retail boxes. Now they’re the same. So instead of twelve total prices, there are six (pre-paid or monthly, 1-, 2-, or 3-years). This raised the costs on service-only a bit, but they also bumped the rebate by $30 to $70 at the same time, to offset that.
In the end, out of 30 permutations (80-hour S2, 80-hour S2DT, and 180-hour S2DT bundles from TiVo.com, and 540 and non-540 rebate units from retail times the 6 pricing options) 21 of them *dropped* in cost. 1 stayed the same. 5 increased just slightly - $13.60-$15 for 1-year, and one $18 increase over 2-years.
There were only three (or two, depending on how you look at it) noticeably increases. The two 1-year monthly S2DT bundles each increased $40. The 1-year monthly non-540 retail net increased $54.
All of the three year plans dropped, up to $154 off the old prices. All but one two year plan dropped, the exception went up $18 spread over 2 years.
One 1-year plan stayed the same. Four of them had only minor increases, $15 or less. With the remaining three showing real increases.
Overall, this is a price decrease more than an increase.
I see what you are saying, but I would imagine that the pricing structure would still be confusing to most of the people out there.
In the end, does having TiVo really justify the expense and commitment when you have cheaper alternatives available?
I think it does. I’ve been using TiVo for nearly 5 years, and I recently purchased the new Series3 and I’m extremely happy with it. I used to buy lifetime on all my boxes, and if I had to today, I’d go with the 3-year prepaid deal as the best value. (I got lifetime on the S3.)
I’ve tried the cable DVRs. I’ve seen other options too - satellite, PC-based software, MythTV, etc. A Yugo will get you from point A to point B, but a Mercedes is still a nicer car and if I had the money I’d rather pay for the Mercedes than the Yugo, no matter how cheap the Yugo is. (As it is, I drive an ‘06 Dodge Charger.)
Some people don’t think DVRs are worth it at all, that a VCR is fine. And that’s their personal evaluation. Others will be happy with the cheap, limited options from a cable company. Or spending more time getting MythTV going to save money.
I’m a Director of IT Operations. I have to deal with tech all (long) day, and, frankly, I don’t feel like dealing with it more at home. I like TiVo because it works, and works very, very well. It is reliable and easy to use. I use features, like Wishlists, all the time - which most other DVR systems completely lack.
It is more than worth it to me to have a quality product. But not everyone is willing to pay for quality.
Sometimes I think that the only reason I stick with cable DVR is that dammed TiVo remote. The layout on that thing drives me nuts.
The peanut seems to be a real love/hate thing. Some people (like myself) think it is fantastic - I hate all my other remotes and I think the TiVo peanut is the best remote I’ve ever used, by far. Well, the S3 remote is the best, the S2 remote is second place.
Other people utterly hate the peanut.
But a lot of universal remotes, like the Harmony, work with TiVo.