TiVo… that’s a name that hasn’t been relevant in my life for years, and I’m far from the only one. Being able to record the movies and shows on your television so you can watch them later was awesome back in the day, but now that on-demand video and streaming have become the norm, TiVo isn’t all that useful. Its treasure trove of patents is the only reason TiVo has been able to make money in recent years, and a company by the name of Rovi has agreed to pay $1.1 billion to acquire TiVo and get its hands on all those valuable patents.
Digital entertainment company and patent hog Rovi has agreed to buy DVR-maker TiVo in a $1.1 billion deal. The acquisition was rumored yesterday and confirmed this morning by Rovi, saying it will adopt the “iconic TiVo brand” as the name for the new company. The deal will mostly be paid for in stock, with $277 million in cash making up the final price. Following the usual regulatory approvals, the acquisition is scheduled to go through in the third quarter this year. As DealBook reported yesterday, it seems that the acquisition is mostly about patents. Neither TiVo nor Rovi make most of their money from actual products, instead, they rely on their intellectual property. For example, TiVo’s Time Warp patent, which allows users to fast-forward through adverts on recorded TV. Between them, the two companies have more than 6,000 issued and pending patents in the digital entertainment world. “Rovi’s acquisition of TiVo, with its innovative products, talented team, and substantial intellectual property portfolio, strengthens Rovi’s position as a global leader in media discovery, metadata, analytics, and IP licensing,” said Rovi CEO Tom Carson in a statement. “The combined capabilities of TiVo and Rovi place us in a tremendous position to extend services across platforms and to a customer base that includes traditional, over-the-top and emerging players across the globe.”
