Suddenlink Communications is the first cable operator in the nation to offer its subscribers access to TiVo’s Mini, which is a small device that lets users view live and recorded video content in secondary rooms of a home.
Suddenlink also got its hands on the Mini devices before they hit retail outlets this spring.
Suddenlink Chairman and CEO Jerry Kent said during a third-quarter earnings call that his company would start offering the Mini this year; currently, Suddenlink has them rolled out in more than 100 communities.
The Mini works in conjunction with Premiere boxes, which Suddenlink has deployed across its footprint. The Mini doesn’t require a CableCard and is a more cost-effective method of enabling a whole-home DVR service. With the Premiere DVR acting as a hub, the Mini uses one of the Premiere’s four tuners to access live and recorded video content on another TV in a home. Users can also pause a show in one room and resume watching it in another.
A spokesman for Suddenlink said the TiVo Mini rental fee is $6 to $7 per month, depending on location. Suddenlink professionally installs the TiVo Mini, and there is an installation fee.
According to TiVo’s website, all of the TiVo equipment must connect to the Internet via either a wired or MoCA network connection. TiVo boxes using a wireless connection won’t support the Mini.
TiVo Mini is now available to customers in the following communities:
- Arkansas: Arkadelphia, Atkins, Batesville, Cabot, Clarksville, Dardanelle, Dover, El Dorado, Heber Springs, Helena-West Helena, Hot Springs Village, Jonesboro, Lamar, London, Magnolia, Malvern, Morrilton, Mountain Home, Newport, Pocahontas, Pottsville, Russellville
- California: Auburn, Eureka, Truckee
- Louisiana: Alexandria, Bastrop, Bossier City, Boyce, Leesville, Minden, Natchitoches, Ruston, Winnfield
- Mississippi: Greenville
- Missouri: Aurora, Branson, Carthage, Monett, Nixa, St. Joseph
- New Mexico: Clovis
- North Carolina: Greenville, Kinston, New Bern, Rocky Mount, Scotland Neck/Enfield and parts of Halifax County, Tarboro, Washington, Williamston
- Oklahoma: Cushing, Drumright, Enid, Muskogee, Stillwater, Wagoner
- Texas: Abilene, Amarillo, Andrews, Anna, Athens, Aubrey, Balch Springs, Big Spring, Brenham, Burkburnett, Celina, Bryan-College Station, Como, Conroe-Lake Conroe, Fate, Floydada, Forney, Georgetown, Gladewater, Grand Saline, Heath, Henderson, Hideaway Lake, Huntsville, Jarrell, Jacksonville, Kingwood, Krum, Leander, Lindale, Little Elm, Lubbock, Lufkin, McClendon-Chisholm, Melissa, Midland, Mineola, Mount Pleasant, Mount Vernon, Nacogdoches, Pflugerville, Pilot Point, Pittsburg, Plainview, Post, Prosper, Quitman, Rockwall, Royse City, San Angelo, Sanger, Seagoville, Snyder, Sulphur Springs, Sweetwater, Talty, Terrell, Tulia, Tyler, Victoria, Winfield, Winnsboro.
Suddenlink expects to expand the availability of TiVo Mini to additional communities in the near future.
Suddenlink was also the first cable operator to launch TiVo’s Stream service late last year. The TiVo Stream router allows customers to watch live TV channels, as well as recorded material, on their iPod Touches, iPads and iPhones.
TiVo has deals in place with roughly half of the top 20 cable operators in the nation, including Cable One, Mediacom Communications, RCN, Grande Communications, GCI and Midcontinent Communications. The DVR pioneer also has deals in place with Comcast, Charter Communications and Virgin Media, but to date, only the latter has scaled in the United Kingdom.
