Com Hem and US Firm TiVo Partnering to Bring TiVo's World Famous Television Solution to Sweden That Will Offer Consumers the Smartest, Most User-Friendly Personalized Television Entertainment Solution; First Ever Deployment of TiVo via an IPTV Network That Will Deliver Best in Class Experience Through Virtually Any Type of Video Delivery and on Any Type of Device
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN and ALVISO, CA, Jun 25, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) --Com Hem, a leading supplier of pay-television, high-speed broadband
and fixed-telephony to 1.74 million connected households in Sweden
and TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), a leader in the advanced television
entertainment market, today announced a mutually exclusive
distribution agreement that will enable Swedish consumers a never
before seen pay TV experience. The offering will deliver seamless
access to traditional television content, large video on demand (VOD)
libraries, over the top (OTT) content and applications (apps) through
a fully integrated viewing experience. Com Hem and TiVo will also
enable this vast world of content choice for consumption beyond the
traditional set top box through TiVo's tablet, smartphone, and
browser-based experiences. With an investment of more than a half
billion U.S. dollars in research and development over the last
decade, TiVo has created the ultimate consumer television viewing
experience and established the gold-standard for both
user-friendliness and powerful functionality.
Tomas Franzen, CEO of Com Hem, stated, "We reviewed a number of
alternatives to find the best way to offer our customers the absolute
best television experience by providing a full suite of linear
television services, VOD, and broadband delivered content (including
OTT/pay services) to every room and device in and out of our
customers' homes. We found that TiVo, by way of its best-in-class
user experience, its leading consumer feature set and rapid time to
market was the most compelling answer. TiVo will be a significant
part of our future plans which will redefine our subscriber
proposition with features like TV Everywhere, remote recording,
universal search, smart recommendations, and access to a wide range
of third-party interactive applications."
Tom Rogers, CEO of TiVo, stated, "We are extremely excited to work
with Com Hem to offer the TiVo experience to Com Hem's approximately
two million connected households, and we believe, similar to Virgin
Media in the UK and ONO in Spain, this will make Com Hem even more
formidable in the marketplace. Com Hem's market leading broadband
services are the perfect match for TiVo which prides itself on
delivering the ultimate combination of traditional and
next-generation television. Further, this deal is a significant step
forward for TiVo as it will be the first time TiVo offers its service
in conjunction with an IPTV network, highlighting our ability to
offer the TiVo experience through virtually any type of video
delivery and on any type of device."
According to Franzen the launch of TiVo, in connection with its
leading broadband speeds (up to 200 Mbit/s) and fixed telephony
services, will continue to provide consumers with the best
triple-play experience in Sweden. "We're fortunate that our
shareholders, BC Partners, are supportive of our vision and have
approved substantial funding for the TiVo roll-out."
Com Hem powered by TiVo will set the standard for smarter television
viewing
With TiVo, Com Hem is launching not only a new way of
television viewing, but a new way to view content, anytime, anywhere
on any device. Some key features are:
-- One-Stop Shop where consumers will effortlessly be able to navigate
all digital entertainment content available with the market's most
compelling user interface across numerous devices;
-- Universal Search will enable subscribers to search across all content
including linear TV, VOD, PPV and OTT/play services, where search
results are smartly sorted by popularity and relevance as opposed to
alphabetically;
-- The TiVo(R) service is so smart, that the system will learn what
the subscriber likes to watch and automatically record Recommendations
on the free space on the hard drive;
-- TiVo Everywhere will provide a TiVo user experience that enables
subscribers to access their content on mobile devices (tablets and
smartphones) and through the Internet in Sweden regardless of whether
content is sourced from the cloud or the set-top-box;
Com Hem's TiVo solution is planned for market launch in spring 2013.
About Com Hem
Com Hem is the leading supplier of pay television,
high-speed broadband and fixed telephony in Sweden. Approximately
40%, 1.74 million, of Sweden's households are connected to Com Hem's
network, with access to the market's broadest range of television
services. Com Hem offers attractively priced, high-quality and
comprehensive services for television, broadband and fixed telephony.
The company was established in 1983, is owned by BC Partners and has
approximately 900 employees and head offices in Stockholm.
www.comhem.se/ir
About TiVo
Founded in 1997, TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) developed the
first commercially available digital video recorder (DVR). Today TiVo
is a global leader in advanced television service for virtually any
platform or device. TiVo offers its service directly to consumers,
and also distributes its technology and services through solutions
tailored for cable, satellite and broadcasting companies. Since its
founding, TiVo has evolved into the ultimate single-solution media
center by combining its patented DVR technologies and universal cable
box capabilities with the ability to aggregate, search and deliver
millions of pieces of broadband, cable and broadcast content directly
to the television. TiVo also continues to weave itself into the
fabric of the media industry by providing interactive advertising
solutions and audience research and measurement ratings services to
the television industry www.tivo.com.
TiVo and the TiVo Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of
TiVo Inc. or its subsidiaries worldwide. Copyright 2012 TiVo Inc. All
rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
statements relate to, among other things, the future launch of TiVo's
advanced television solution, including its features and
capabilities, with Com Hem in Sweden. Forward-looking statements
generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology
such as, "believe," "expect," "may," "will," "intend," "estimate,"
"continue," or similar expressions or the negative of those terms or
expressions. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties, which
could cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed in
or indicated by the forward-looking statements. Factors that may
cause actual results to differ materially include delays in
development, competitive service offerings and lack of market
acceptance, as well as the other potential factors described under
"Risk Factors" in Com Hem's public reports, including Com Hem's
Annual Report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, and in
TiVo's public reports filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including TiVo's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended January 31, 2012, as amended, the Quarterly Report
on Form 10-Q for the period ended April 30, 2012 and Current Reports
on Form 8-K. Com Hem and TiVo caution you not to place undue reliance
on forward-looking statements, which reflect an analysis only and
speak only as of the date hereof. Com Hem and TiVo disclaim any
obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
SOURCE: TiVo