TiVo's 'best performance yet': almost breaking even

Though there have been rare exceptions, TiVo generally does not turn a profit. However, that is not to say the company cannot exceed expectations.

The DVR maker was projected to sustain a net loss of between $9 and $12 million for the fourth quarter of 2007, but in the end, net loss for the company was only $6.4 million. The result for the whole of last year was a loss of $31.5 million, a 34% improvement over the prior year's $47.7 million loss.

"I am very pleased to say that fiscal 2008 was a very successful year for TiVo," said President and CEO Thomas Rogers in the company's quarterly earnings call. He later remarked that it was the best annual performance in TiVo's history.

Marketing spending was cut substantially, and the hardware subsidy was significantly reduced as the company's main offering is now its $299 TiVO box instead of the "free" box that it was pushing in 2006 (which came with an associated rate hike).

Technology revenues saw a $3.6 million increase from last year to a total of $7 million. Service revenues, on the other hand, were down 5% to $51 million, and hardware saw a gross loss of $7.8 million. That loss is made up of the hardware's related cost and expenses such as rebates, revenue share, inventory reserves and retail channel cost.

Rogers goes on to note that the relationship with Cox in New England is "progressing nicely," and that trials of the TiVo-enabled Cox boxes -- which the public began hearing about nearly two years ago -- will finally be getting under way. Trial service regions are in Rhode Island and Connecticut. Comcast's recent trial rollout of TiVo DVRs in Boston is additionally helping turn New England into the company's strongest region.