CES rumor: Tivo to partner up with DirectTV and Dish Network

Las Vegas (Nevada) – Several Web sites have posted rumors about an impending partnership between Tivo, the video recording and scheduling service, and satellite TV providers, DirectTV and Dish Network. All three companies market digital video recorders and rumor has it that they will partner up to provide mobile content. While there are no official statements, it’s easy to see how this makes sense.

Well, CES is just a week away and it looks like the rumors have started, right on time. I don’t know about this one though, the tension between DirecTV and TiVo has been very public for a while, as DirecTV has stopped production of the TiVo-based R10 DVR and replaced it with the NDS-based R15. (The TiVo unit is still in stock but you have to request it specifically.) I suppose a partnership with Dish could be part of a settlement of the patent violation lawsuit TiVo still has pending against Echostar/Dish. It seems more likely that facts are getting confused. TiVo has TiVoToGo to support mobile content. Dish Network has a portable media player that can connect to some of the DVRs. And DirecTV just announced that they’ll be announcing (yes, really) a mobile solution at CES. Right now it seems more like three independent solutions and not a partnership between the three companies. Still, thought I’d share the rumor, it makes life interesting. I’ll be ‘reporting’ from CES personally January 5-9.