Sharp is going to launch Smart TVs ‘Powered by TiVo’ (meaning the TiVo OS will provide the UX and content discovery heart of the connected television experience) as part of a multi-year, multi-million-unit agreement. The first ‘Powered by TiVo’ television sets are expected to ship in 2024, starting in Europe. The two companies say the new OS will “help consumers cut through the clutter of streaming and linear content options with a simplified, universal discovery – delivering a user experience that drives TV demand and viewership.”
TiVo announced its ‘Powered by TiVo’ offer and move into the Smart TV market ahead of IBC last year and is confident that television brands and OEMs are looking for ‘independent’ alternatives to the likes of Android, Roku and indeed Samsung, which has made the Tizen OS available to third-parties. The company previously announced a deal with Vestel to cover television brands such as Vestel, Daewoo, Regal, Hitachi, Telefunken and JVC.
Sharp is launching a whole line of Smart TVs featuring the TiVo OS/platform. TiVo says the deal demonstrates demand for alternative OS options, as it predicted, and the move confirms TiVo’s expansion beyond traditional Pay TV hardware.
“We chose TiVo’s OS not only because of the superior product but also because we wanted to offer a user experience of Sharp elements with more variety and freedom,” says Nick Chen, Head of Europe, Vice President of TV-System business unit, Sharp Corporation. “We are excited to give users significantly more control on how to discover and consume content across live TV, news, sports, movies and more.”
Jon Kirchner, Chief Executive Officer at Xperi (which owns TiVo), says, “Sharp’s selection of Powered by TiVo is further proof that we are meeting a crucial need for Smart TV brands. The accelerated adoption of our independent media platform by consumer electronic brands, as well as by BMW in the car, lays a strong foundation for the future growth and success of our platform ecosystem.”
TiVo will be showcasing its independent media platform at IFA 2023 in Berlin starting September 1. You can read our original analysis here about TiVo’s move into the Smart TV market and why the company believes there is an opening for an independent Smart TV OS.
Our view then, which is unchanged, is that TiVo’s excellent UX, honed over decades in the Pay TV market, can boost the quality of the UX in the value-brand television set market, and should be viewed as a significant development for that reason, given the benefit to all television stakeholders if the UX bar can be raised in every room, in every connected TV home.
This video also shows TiVo discussing Powered by TiVo at Connected TV World Summit in March this year, when the company explained how it helps CE makers monetise their television sets, post-sale.
