The TiVo box, which sat at the cutting edge of television’s early 2000s time-shifting viewer revolution, is no more. The company confirmed to Variety that it officially got out of the hardware business on Oct. 1, when it stopped selling its physical DVR products. That means the TiVo hardware and accessories, which still had been sold both online and through agents until this fall, is officially off the market.
“TiVo no longer manufactures hardware, and our remaining inventory is now depleted, though we will continue to offer support for the products going forward,” the company told Variety. “We are very proud of the TiVo DVR legacy, and the great experience TiVo has always provided lives on in our TiVo OS for Connected Televisions, which is available on televisions from Sharp in the US and multiple brands throughout Europe.”
The fact that TiVo will still offer support for these now obsolete boxes probably come as somewhat of a relief for users who bought “lifetime plans” for the service.
TiVo’s most recent digital video recorder, dubbed “TiVo Edge,” was unveiled in October 2019. That device included 4K Dolby Vision HDR video playback capabilities with Dolby Atmos sound, and could be used to both record live TV and access a range of streaming apps. Versions included one for cable users (with six tuners and a 2TB hard drive) and cord cutters (with four tuners and a 2TB hard drive).
The TiVo Edge was the seventh generation TiVo DVR, and was manufactured by Arris. The original Series 1 TiVo, launched in March 1999, was manufactured by Philips.
TV industry execs were initially concerned about the commercial-zapping capabilities of the then-nascent TiVo technology: “We’re in trouble, and we shouldn’t ignore the fact that it’s right around the corner,” then-Fox Entertainment prexy Gail Berman said at a 2003 Hollywood Radio & TV Society luncheon about the threat of DVRs. “This business is going to change, and it’s up to us to figure out how to do it.”
Ultimately, networks embraced TiVo and its rival DVRs as they saw how the devices actually helped increase regular series viewing. The Television Academy even awarded TiVo an Interactive TV Emmy in 2006 for “seamlessly connecting consumers to the digital entertainment they want, where and when they want it.”
But as cable operators began incorporating DVRs into their own set top boxes, TiVo struggled to sell its devices in the consumer market. It focused more of its efforts on licensing TiVo-branded software and tech to cable operators and other third-party devices. Later, the streaming revolution changed the way people consumed TV — as audiences turned to cloud-based on-demand options rather than recording and storing their own libraries.
The end of the TiVo Edge had been on the horizon for a while: TiVo stopped selling the antenna (“cord cutter”) version of the device on its website in February 2024. According to users, that was followed by the TiVo Mini LUX and the TiVo Stream 4K, until the last product — the TiVo Edge DVR for cable — ended its sales at the end of September.
The website Cord Cutters News was the first to note last week that TiVo’s official website had taken down references to its hardware DVR products, including the TiVo Edge. The website noted how streaming changed the game, while cable companies focused more on proprietary cloud DVRs — and then “regulatory changes, including the phased-out support for CableCARD technology—essential for TiVo’s cable compatibility—further squeezed the viability of consumer hardware.”
TiVo’s website now gears users to two options: A pitch for smart TVs that license TiVo technology, and one for its DTS AutoStage video service for autos.
