TiVo details Premiere upgrade pricing for existing customers, and it's not bad

Now that TiVo has unveiled its Series 4 platform of TiVo boxes, known as the Premiere and Premiere XL, the big question for existing users is: How do I upgrade? We cornered a few executives at the launch event in New York to get the answer. And no, your existing TiVo box will not receive the new user interface.

In short, there are two separate upgrade paths. One for lifetime subscription customers and another for customers wanting to pay monthly. Why two different approaches? TiVo says its because each customer has different priorities.

For existing TiVo customers wanting a lifetime subscription with the new box, they must pay full price for a TiVo Premiere or TiVo Premiere XL -- $299 and $499, respectively. However, they will receive $200 off the lifetime subscription price of the box, making it $299.

For those existing subscribers who want to upgrade but pay monthly, TiVo is offering a 20% discount on the Premiere or Premiere XL hardware. That lowers the price of the base model to $260. And if monthly customers keep their existing hardware active, they can benefit from the multi-service discount.

Notably missing this time around is an option for transferring an existing lifetime subscription to a new Premiere box, as you could when the Series 3 platform was launched. TiVo says it wants to start fresh, and the advantage is that existing customers can keep their current TiVos active.

TiVo says it will update its website soon with detailed information on the upgrade offers.