[Chris Freeland]

This is just my opinion but I think UTV will eventually die merger or no merger. TIVO on the other hand will not only survive but thrive, merger or no merger, however I would not putt it past Charlie to eventually buy TIVO. I think there is room for both the in-house PVR501/508/522/721/921 type pvr as well as the D*TIVO in a merged DBS company. I think their will be a choice, spend more money up front for a New D*PVR522 or lifetime subscription for New D*TIVO or spend less up front and pay monthly subscription fee for New D*TIVO.

 

[Chris Freeland]

I will not pay a monthly sub fee for a pvr, however I do want a satellite receiver/pvr combo of some kind. When I do get around to replacing my old E* 2000 receiver(probably post merger if aproved) it will either be one of the DISH PVR501/508/522 or a DirecTIVO with lifetime subscription, I am willing to pay more up front to avoid the extra $10 every month. Having said the above I think as people begin to relies the benefits of a pvr, the market will support both lifetime and monthly plans. Their was also a press release somewhere recently that announced that Sonic Blue was now going to offer both a monthly and lifetime plans for future RePlay pvr’s to bring the up front costs down on hardware to become more competitive with TIVO.