WOW! selects TiVo to power multiscreen TV

WOW! Selects TiVo to Power New Set-Top, Web, and Mobile Experience

SAN JOSE, CA and ENGLEWOOD, CO — TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), a leader in the advanced television entertainment market, and WOW! Internet, Cable & Phone, a top 10 cable operator serving nearly 800,000 customers, today announced a joint development relationship with Evolution Digital. The agreement includes plans to deploy TiVo’s software solution across mobile, web and a new low-cost, Hybrid HD Set-Top Box (STB). Evolution Digital will provide the STB hardware.

“This is a unique new offering from TiVo that provides a non-DVR box that can handle both traditional and broadband video without the expense of a CableCARD — a great next generation solution for IP distribution,” said Thomas Elam, GM and Vice President of TiVo’s North American Operator Business. “TiVo has grown from solely a DVR provider into a full service entertainment software company that includes nDVRs, traditional DVRs, HD-STBs, DTAs, Web, and Mobile.”

“Powering WOW!’s next generation HD-STB, as well as the WOW! IOS, Android and Web experiences, will bring WOW! subscribers the capabilities existing TiVo users know and love — seamless integration of the best of traditional Pay TV and broadband-delivered over-the-top content,” added Elam. “We see this agreement as a template for how Cable Providers should evolve their networks. While everyone says broadband is the future — WOW! is really making it happen.”

The offering is achieved through a STB hardware partnership with Evolution Digital. Evolution has created a low-cost STB platform that integrates traditional linear over QAM and Broadband services. The STB uses HD uDTA security, eliminating the hardware-based CableCARD to allow lower price point options for operators. In turn, this allows operators to be aggressive in their roll out of ‘hybrid’ experiences — mixing traditional video with broadband video. When combined with TiVo’s software, this STB can be deployed in multiple modes — a stand-alone HD-STB, a client to a TiVo DVR, or as a client to a next generation cloud TV services such as IP linear and network DVR. The operator investment in STB investment is future proof when combined with TiVo’s multi-mode software.

“The new WOW! offering from TiVo will serve the next generation of millennial and skinny bundle subscribers seeking video solutions to complement our leading broadband offerings,” said Cash Hagen, Chief Technology Officer of WOW!. “This Evolution Digital STB, powered by TiVo, delivers a simpler way to experience WOW! video offerings and access to a world of live broadband content and a growing slate of OTT content offerings aggregated by TiVo such as Netflix, Vudu, YouTube, Pandora, and Spotify.”

Key software elements include:

• Search and browse functions across a unified catalog of broadband TV, VOD and OTT content
• Advanced recommendations to help users find personalized content quickly
• A full HD program guide and menus
• Integration between the STB and mobile devices — including remote control of the STB from the mobile app, and voice control
• STB access to interactive HTML5 applications for video, weather, games, music, and more
• Ability to play music and share photos stored on home computers on the main TV in the household.