Japanese news reports indicate California-based digital custom television recording service TiVo is looking to partner up with Japanese companies for offerings in Japan as soon as next year.
TiVo chief executive Michael Ramsay was quoted in Nihon Keizai Shimbun March 21 as saying the company hoped to begin plying the Japanese digital television recording market that soon.
The paper also said TiVo could face strong competition with Matsushita’s Panasonic brand selling large volumes of DVD recording devices with TiVo-like functions including pausing live broadcasts while recording.
Nihon Keizai also quoted Ramsay as saying TiVo’s best bets include a partnership with “a strong Japanese service provider,” a hint that TiVo may be looking to make a deal with either a cable television network or an Internet service provider. Or, the company might partner with a Japanese consumer electronics company to obtain hard drives.
These reports came in the middle of TiVo grappling with such challenges as looking for a new chief executive, losing its president, and handling competition from digital video recorders offered by cable television companies.
