Strong Revenue Gains Trim TiVo Loss

Television recording device maker TiVo Inc. reported a third-quarter loss Tuesday, but said revenue rose sharply, boosted by strong subscriber growth.

San Jose-based TiVo reported a net loss for the quarter of $34.5 million, or 81 cents a share compared with a loss of $72.7 million, or $1.89 a share, a year ago.

Revenue for TiVo, whose personal video recording service allows viewers to customize television viewing by automatically recording shows on a computer hard drive for playback at a later time, increased to $5.3 million, up 29% from $4.1 million in the second quarter, and $1.1 million for the third quarter of last year.

During the third quarter, TiVo activated 51,000 new subscribers to the TiVo Service, bringing the total subscriber base to about 280,000 as of Oct. 31.

Earlier this month, in a move aimed at growing TiVo’s subscriber base through wider distribution channels, the company unveiled a marketing pact with AT&T; Corp.’s cable television unit that will offer devices powered by TiVo’s TV recording technology to certain AT&T; cable-TV customers.

Last month, TiVo signed a licensing pact with Japan’s Sony Corp. that will allow Sony to build TiVo’s personal digital recording technology in consumer electronics devices such as camcorders and DVD players.