The Impact of TiVo on the Decline of Live Television
For a time, it felt like everyone was using a TiVo. It became a plot device in popular TV shows, attracted A-list fans, and even turned into a verb as common as Google or Xerox. This affection was well-deserved, as TiVo introduced a product that seemed almost magical. You could pause live TV, rewind it, and schedule recordings for later, ensuring your favorite shows were always available when you wanted to watch them.
However, there’s a reason you likely don’t own a TiVo today. The company fell victim to its own success, struggling to transform its groundbreaking idea into a sustainable business or a truly enduring product. The very changes it inspired in our viewing habits ultimately left TiVo behind. We now live in the world TiVo envisioned, but we mostly do so without it.
In this episode of Version History, the season finale of our second season, we explore TiVo’s journey from innovative startup to Hollywood favorite to a licensing powerhouse. David Pierce, Nilay Patel, and journalist Emily Nussbaum discuss what made TiVo remarkable at the time, how it transformed both the content we consume and our viewing experiences, and what transpired when TiVo’s technology became widespread. It turns out we all have a fondness for our TiVos, but it seems unlikely we’ll be picking up another one anytime soon.
As we wrap up this season, we’re taking a few weeks off to prepare the next set of episodes. If you want to catch every new episode as soon as it releases, there are ways to subscribe to Version History:
* The Version History podcast feed
* The YouTube channel
If you’re a subscriber, you can also enjoy Version History (and all our other podcasts) ad-free. Just head to your account settings.
For those interested in learning more about TiVo’s history and its impact on our TV habits, here are some resources to get you started:
* From IEEE Spectrum: The Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame: TiVo
* From OneZero: ‘They Thought It Was Black Magic’: An Oral History of TiVo
* From Engadget: Ten years of TiVo: how far we haven’t come
* From Emily Nussbaum: I Like To Watch: Arguing My Way Through The TV Revolution
* From The Chicago Tribune: Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Emily Nussbaum can’t keep up with all the TV and she’s OK with that
* From The New Yorker: Cutting Off Oscar
* From The New York Times: Rovi Buys TiVo in $1.1 Billion Deal
* TiVo won the court battles, but lost the TV war
* TiVo has sold its last DVR
