The team of TiVo, Microsoft and Intel -- with a little help from American Airlines -- said Tuesday that products have begun shipping that will make mobile television a much simpler task. TiVo, the company that made digital video recording common for millions of Americans, said that its TiVoToGo feature is available for the first time on Windows Mobile-based Portable Media Centers powered by Intel. The technology upgrade for users of TiVo Series2 -- which account for about 600,000 of TiVo's more than 3 million subscribers -- will allow for easy transferring of saved TV shows from a TiVo box to Windows XP PC, then to compatible portable devices made by Dell Computer, Hewlett-Packard, Audiovox, Samsung and others. Transferring a half-hour TV show to a PDA, PocketPC or Smartphone via ethernet or wireless connection takes up to 45 minutes, said Matt Wisk, senior vp and chief marketing officer for TiVo. TiVo's efforts at encouraging its subscribers to take their favorite TV shows with them wherever they might be also includes the fairly new Humax 40-hour DVD recorder and the MyDVD Studio 6.1 software from Sonic, both of which make it easy to burn TiVo-saved television shows onto DVDs.
The subscription business model has been one of the big success stories of the Internet era. From Netflix to Microsoft 365, more and more companies are moving towards recurring revenue streams by having customers pay for access rather than product ownership. The subscription economy cuts across many industries -- such as streaming services, software, media, consumer products, and even transportation with the rise of mobility-as-a-service. A new market study by Juniper Research highlights the central challenge facing subscription businesses -- reducing customer churn to build a loyal subscriber installed base. Subscription Model Market Development The Juniper market study provides an in-depth analysis of the subscription business model market landscape and associated customer retention strategies. A key finding is that impending government regulations will make it easier for customers to cancel subscriptions, likely leading to increased voluntary churn rates. The study report cites the