• April 5, 2005

In a signal that all may not be lost between digital video recorder marketer TiVo and one of its main distributors, the Tuesday said it signed a "new advertising services agreement" with DirecTV that "extends" its existing agreement. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but TiVo said it covered rights to "sell and distribute TiVo's advanced advertising capabilities on DirecTV DVRs with TiVo service, and that TiVo and DirecTV each will retain their respective revenues generated from those sales. Ever since DirecTV, the nation's largest satellite television provider with approximately 13.9 million subscribers came under control of News Corp. there has been speculation that the company would favor a News Corp.-owned DVR technology over TiVo. Meanwhile, TiVo recently struck its first major distribution deal with a top cable operator, Comcast Corp. -- J.M.