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Two thousand two zero two zero: We’re going to watch TV like it’s 1999, thanks to TiVo.
TiVo recently released its first stand-alone streaming device, the $70 TiVo Stream 4K. The TiVo brand screams late 90s/early Aughts to me. For those who’ve forgotten, the DVR pioneer changed the way we watch TV.
TiVo took the concept of the VCR and brought it to the digital age. It made scheduling an entire series to record super simple —in the dark ages, you used to have to program a VCR to record each episode separately (or worse, manually press record!). And with a TiVo, you could skip the commercials — mind blowing. Cable companies copied TiVo and made their own DVRs, but they were never as enjoyable to use as the original. Basically, TiVo made life from 1999 on better in every way.
But sometime between then and now, TiVo became less necessary. It probably started with YouTube and Netflix, and then we started streaming live TV instead of using cable. Now we all subscribe to a handful of separate streaming services and use our Rokus, Amazon Fire TVs, or Apple TV to watch them. We have more to watch than ever, but that brings its own problems. Can you remember whether the new series about jazz in Paris is on Hulu or Netflix or maybe Amazon Prime? If you can, you are a better adjusted modern-day content consumer than I.
Here comes TiVo to make life better again by simplifying all of it.
Everything in Its Right Place
But that’s not why you’d want to buy it; you get the TiVo Stream 4K for the TiVo Stream. This mode brings together movies and shows from various streaming providers into a single view. Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Disney+, Sling, HBO Now, and a couple of others — all sharing one screen, at the same time. You don’t have to switch among apps. Which means you no longer have to think about which service a show is on — that alone might be worth the investment. AppleTV and Roku have both tried to solve this, but TiVo is way ahead of them already.
One of TiVo’s strengths has always been its recommendations. When you first launch the TiVo Stream 4K, it shows you a series of two shows or movies—pick this or that, depending on what you like more. You can also add shows to your library. If you want really good recommendations, find other shows and give them a thumbs up or down. After you’ve finished telling it what you like, the TiVo Stream will show you things to watch. Yes, Netflix does the same thing, but TiVo provides more relevant picks and combines recommendations across services—it just works.
I know there are more great shows and movies available than I can keep up with. I inevitably forget about something I wanted to watch. Netflix and Amazon don’t focus on promoting shows from a year ago; they want me to watch what just came out. TiVo doesn’t have that agenda, so it’ll show slightly older things—and I remember. Oh, I forgot about that Depeche Mode documentary. Right, I never finished Halt and Catch Fire. Wait, there’s a documentary about a baseball pitcher who pitched a no-hitter on acid? If you think you’ve already watched everything that would interest you, the TiVo Stream is for you.
Islands in the Stream
There are limitations. The TiVo Stream doesn’t include every streaming service —but it does have the big ones. And it only works with one live streaming service, Sling. It’s not as fast to launch shows as a Roku or Apple TV. The first release has some rough edges: I had problems with the remote pairing with the streaming device and some weird hiccups with it not letting my TV shut off. I couldn’t get Google Assistant to find Bosch (what have you got against Bosch, Google?).
All that means the TiVo Stream 4K probably isn’t quite ready to displace your Roku, Fire TV, or AppleTV yet, but it has a lot of promise. And if you’re bored with what you’re watching, it could be the best money you spend all year.
Michael Gowan impatiently waits for somebody—anybody!—to stream the complete Moonlighting series. You can follow him on Twitter @zebgowan.
