So I have publicly stated when I screwed up, (see my missed calls about Microsoft's dividends), but this time I finally got one right... really right.
Netflix & TiVo are about to enter a partnership... read about it here from Newsweek
Back in April I wrote a piece called "Netflix & TiVo - a partnership waiting to happen". I outlined how the two companies clearly should partner up since they have complimentary assets (TiVo has boxes in the home, Netflix needs to deliver content to a box in the home) and have close executive ties.
This all is in the context of the posting I wrote about TiVo's marketing strategy, which I characterized as "Becoming a platform". The real question that everyone should be asking themselves is does this partnership really help TiVo's real problem... which is that approx. 75% of all their subscribers are from DirectTV which doesn't allow them to offer the digital media option which is the key component of becoming a platform to offer services like Netflix on demand.
Given these circumstances, I have been calling for TiVo to literally give away their product and take a loss in order to get a real user base to become a platform.
So TiVo, if you are listening, start giving away those simple 40 hour boxes... get a user base, become a platform, then launch services like Netflix. That should be your strategy... don't put the cart before the horse.
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