TiVo Records a Messy Quarter

This column was originally published on Street Insight on Nov. 30 at 9:31 a.m. ET. It's being republished as a bonus for TheStreet.com and RealMoney.com readers. For more information about subscribing to Street Insight, please click here.

TiVo (TIVO Quote) is a real mess, and the only hope for its shareholders lies in the company being acquired.

TiVo still faces a host of headwinds. Its big push for holiday sales -- by offering free or discounted tuner boxes -- is not likely to drum up the additional revenue stream that Wall Street was expecting. Delays in certain advertising deals are not a positive development, either.

The EchoStar (DISH Quote) litigation still hangs over its head. In October, a U.S. Court of Appeals judge issued a stay of a lower court injunction requiring EchoStar to cut off DVR service to several million installed set-top boxes. On Nov. 27, the District Court judge in Texas denied all pretrial motions filed by EchoStar, clearing the way for further appeals of the injunction.

You might say that TiVo's distribution agreement with Cablevision Mexico will be accretive in the future. (Cablevision Mexico is owned by Grupo Televisa (TV Quote), Mexico's largest cable operator in Mexico City.) However, given TiVo's track record, I remain apprehensive. I just don't foresee this company generating a profit anytime soon.

Latest Results

For the third quarter reported Wednesday, TiVo reported a net loss of $11.1 million, or 12 cents per share, and total (service plus technology) revenue of $52.6 million, up 22% from the year-earlier period. TiVo-owned gross subscriptions grew 10% year over year to 101,000. This marks the first time in six quarters that this metric was positive on a year-over-year basis.