Suddenlink rolls TiVo Mini set-tops

Suddenlink Communications is beginning to deploy the TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO) Mini set-top, which allows subscribers to access programming from the TiVo Premiere DVR from any room in their homes.

The MSO is charging subscribers $6 to $11 monthly to rent the TiVo Mini, depending upon the market and the subscription packages they choose, according to ZatzNotFunny.

TiVo executives said in January that the Mini set-tops would ship this spring. Mediacom and other cable operators that have struck deals with TiVo to use its Premiere set-top as their primary DVRs are expected to offer the Mini to subscribers. TiVo also plans to distribute the set-tops in retail outlets.

TiVo hopes the Premiere and Mini companion set-tops will help it compete with multiroom DVRs from DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV), Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH), Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) and other pay TV distributors. The Premiere DVR contains four tuners, and subscribers who install a Mini will have to dedicate one of the Premiere's tuners to the new set-top. Dish Network's Hopper and Comcast's Xfinity X1 set-top contain six tuners, and DirecTV's Genie DVR has five tuners.

For more:
- ZatzNotFunny has this story

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