E.W. Scripps Co. is launching a redesigned digital video recorder to help fuel the renaissance of free over-the-air broadcast and ad-supported streaming TV.

Scripps, which pushed antennas last year as part of its Free TV Project, also paid $14 million for Nuvyyo, a Canadian tech company that manufactures digital video recorders under the Tablo brand. Tablo is rolling out a new version of the device and software today that Scripps hopes will help build momentum for OTA viewing of local TV stations and networks such as Court TV, Scripps News and Ion. 

While cable cord-cutting has brought more viewers to free over-the-air broadcast television, it has also separated many consumers from their DVR services, which were often bundled as part of a pay-TV package.

Consumers might have had less need for DVRs when most streaming programming was available on demand. But as streamers add linear channels, sports and other live events — and other sports rights return to broadcast from regional sports cable networks — the demand for homes to have DVR functionality is rising.

Also Read: Early Innings: Scripps Not Done Making Sports Deals

“A cornerstone of our company strategy is to increase OTA adoption by improving the consumer experience, and Tablo does that by giving users some of the same features and benefits they are accustomed to with other TV services,” Scripps CEO Adam Symson said. 

“The new Tablo solution revolutionizes the consumer experience for over-the-air television and free streaming services,” Symson said. “Our investments in Tablo as well as the Scripps Networks, live sports and news all expand our leadership in free ad-supported television.”    

Scripps said the new fourth version of Tablo is the first consumer-electronics device to enable whole-home viewing, recording of over-the-air broadcast television and curated free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels without a subscription. 

Tablo attaches to an over-the-air antenna and a home Wi-Fi network to access programming and sends a live signal to other smart devices, such as a Roku or Fire TV player, allowing viewers to watch live broadcast TV anywhere in the home.

Tablo’s features include advanced DVR scheduling, more than 50 hours worth of storage space and a program guide that lists shows playing on live local broadcast and on most free streaming platforms.

The company has plans to make future editions of the Tablo compatible with ATSC 3.0 broadcast signals.

The device lets users pause, record and replay shows. It also allows fast-forwarding in recorded programming, which lets viewers skip past the commercials that support the channels’ business models. (Some streaming channels disable the fast-forward function during commercial breaks.)

The new Tablo is available at TabloTV.com and BestBuy.com for a manufacturer’s suggested $99.95. It can be brought home and used without additional subscriptions, contracts or fees. It will also be available in Best Buy stores in the U.S. and online at Amazon.com.

A Tablo Total System, including a 35-mile indoor TV antenna, is on sale now for $109.95 at TabloTV.com. The regular price is $129.95.

“We’ve completely rebuilt the Tablo experience from the ground up to provide consumers with an amazing free TV experience that you can’t get from an antenna alone,” said Bo Schuerman, Scripps VP of enterprise strategy. “Now, consumers can easily watch live football, local news, free streaming channels and record so many great shows and movies with no subscription fees.”

Last week, the NCTA put out an announcement touting an energy savings valued at $3.5 billion since top pay TV operators and vendors began working back in 2012 to lower energy consumption of set-tops.

Of course, as is usually the perspective of the tech press, the the linear pay TV industry’s glass is half empty.

Related: NCTA: More Than 100M OTT Devices Were Used in 2017 to Access Pay TV Services sans Set-top

As noted by VentureBeat, the typical power-saving mode on the average pay TV DVR delivers a minuscule energy savings—a dynamic the site compared to the “close door” button on elevators, which have generally been inert since the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed.

“They knew people feel better with a button to push when they are feeling impatient,” VentureBeat writer Joe Bamberg noted. “It seems cable and telco companies have taken their cues from elevator manufacturers in the design of their DVRs.”

Bamberg analyzed data compiled by D+R International, the independent auditor who has analyzed the six-year energy savings progress generated by the pay TV industry-wide consortium. He also factored in energy-use data from pay TV companies including Comcast.

An Arris-made Xfinity DVR, he noted, consumes 24.5 watts while on power-save/standby/sleep mode—just 5.7% less juice than the 26 watts it uses when it’s in its full operational setting.

This is unnecessary, Bamberg noted, given that other video devices figure out how to power up and down quickly with significant energy savings. Sony’s PlayStation 4, for example, gobbles up 137 watts while powered on, but only 8.5 watts while it’s sleeping.

Bamberg said that many pay TV set-tops use Broadcom BCM 7425 chip, which has four different sleep modes. “One of the sleep modes would bring your cable box back to full operation from an extremely low power, deep sleep in five seconds,” he wrote. "A simple software tweak could enable low power mode and significantly reduce energy usage while imposing negligible manufacturing costs on the cable providers.”

Interestingly, Bamberg based his findings on D+R’s August 2017 report, which studied 2016 set-tops and not the latest D+R report issued last week--and cited by the NCTA in the cable lobbying org’s much more positive spin on pay TV set-top energy use.

While both reports support the author’s conclusion, the most recent one studying 2017 set-tops has a few green shoots in terms of sleep mode energy performance.

For example, the Charter’s Technicolor-made model 8640HDC2 DVR delivers nearly a 22% electricity savings while in sleep mode. DirecTV’s H44-500 saves only 9.6% of power in sleep mode, but it only uses 10.4 watts while in full operation.

The pay TV industry seems to disagree that its DVRs can be powered up quickly from more energy-efficient levels of sleep.

“While some power scaling successes have been achieved, set-top boxes in ‘light’ sleep mode typically use much of the power that they consume in on mode, and trialed ‘deep’ sleep modes had re-start times too lengthy to be tolerated by consumers,” D+R noted in its latest report.

Bamberg seems to shoot down this industry-side assertion effectively. But perhaps the focus on sleep mode efficiency misses some larger points.

Overall, pay TV DVRs used 11% less power than they did in 2016, according to the latest D+R report, and a whopping 46% less than they did in 2012, when the industry-wide power-saving collaboration started.

The list of set-tops studied by D+R in 2017 includes an increasing number of thin-client devices, most of which use less than 10 watts in full operation.

While U.S. pay TV operators had around 52,673,000 DVR set-tops in the market in 2016, the number declined to 49,891,000 last year. In fact, the number of thin-client and “non-DVR” pay TV set-tops declined, too, as cord cutting and the rise of virtual services began to transform consumer engagement habits in earnest. The number of all U.S. pay TV set-tops in the market dropped about 5.6% to 201.7 million.

Is the point moot?

“Smart TVs are absolutely part of our strategy and our vision,” said Comcast’s Xfinity services chief Matthew Strauss, telling Fast Company last month that the No. 1 cable operator is now full onboard with streaming its X1 platform to connected TV’s instead of delivering it with a leased proprietary set-top. “When you look at the video landscape today, there are more choices than have ever been available before at the touch of a remote. It’s a good time to be alive if you like television.”

TiVo’s business has been rapidly shifting from hardware to software, and that business shift was clear as day in the company’s third-quarter results.

“TiVo has moved well beyond a hardware company and is now an innovative entertainment technology company,” Thomas Carson, TiVo’s president and CEO, said on the company's earnings call Thursday (Nov. 2). “To that point, 95% of our revenues this quarter came from software, services, advertising and licensing.”

Though it’s not a core focus, TiVo is still keeping its hand in the retail hardware business amid the launch of a new lineup of Vox-branded products that add voice navigation and a new user interface.

RELATED: TiVo Refreshes Retail Lineup With Voice-Powered 'Vox' Devices

TiVo said Q3 revenue rose 29%, to $197.9 million, driven by the merger between TiVo and Rovi that closed last fall. That was paired with a net loss of $17 million, versus net income of $49.9 million a year ago that factored in a $83.4 million tax benefit. TiVo expects full-year revenue in the range of $810 million to $830 million, with about $35 million coming from hardware sales.

Carson, who plans to retire from the company (a search for a successor is ongoing), reiterated that TiVo’s business now covers three categories: Platform Solutions (user experience software for pay TV operators in developed and emerging markets); Software and Services (metadata, advanced search and recommendations, voice search and advertising); and Licensing.

Though TiVo has made progress on that last category, having signed recent deals with AT&T and Liberty Global, the overhang continues due to the lack of a deal and a protracted legal battle with Comcast.

RELATED: TiVo Shares Soar on Prelim ITC Ruling Against Comcast

Getting Comcast under license “remains one of our top priorities,” Carson said. 

Regarding the pending action at the International Trade Commission, Carson said TiVo expects a final determination to be issued on Nov. 9.

The headline was too good not to reuse, but Dave Zatz has a few more details about a DVR with integrated over-the-air TV capabilities that TiVo and Philips are developing.

 HD Guru first came across this development at CES last month, but Zatz notes that a two-tuner prototype shown at CES appeared to be reusing an old Philips form-factor,  and that the interface presented there “looks nothing like the current or upcoming TiVo UI,” so it’s not clear whether this was merely a “placeholder” for what will grace the final product.

But the combo marks a reunion of sorts as Philips and TiVo got together to build and market an original retail TiVo PVR, a monstrosity that was standard-def-only and used a telco return to obtain data for the guide, as well as TiVo-powered receivers for DirecTV. 

HD Guru reported that the new Philips-TiVo combo will be coming out in the fall, with pricing to be announced on what was being referred to at CES as the “Philips HD Personal Video Recorder Powered by TiVo.”

TiVo, which still sells the cord-cutter-focused Roamio OTA and coming off merger with Rovi last year, is still mum on any additional details about the new Philips hook-up, but offered this statement:

“While we do not comment on our customers' product plans, TiVo does continuously work with companies to develop new products and features to create innovative user experiences and enable viewers to stay connected to their favorite entertainment.”

Elsewhere in TiVo-land, The Donohue Report uncovered documents revealing some details about a new 4K DVR IP video gateway called the DCX905 that Arris has developed in partnership with TiVo and appears to be tagged for cable MSO partners. That product seemingly stems from a deal announced by TiVo and Arris in 2015.

RELATED: Arris Ties in TiVo

Following a sneak peek at CES in January, Tablo has unleashed a new tool for cord-cutters in the form of a native app for fourth-gen Apple TV devices that works in tandem with Tablo’s over-the-air HDTV DVR.

Update: The company reached out Friday to note that its new app is under approval with Apple and that Nuvyyo will be pushing the app live as soon as it gets the green light.

And updates and discussions around the unexpected delay were playing out on Twitter on Friday afternoon:

@majikp3@thebauminator Sorry guys... Ran into some logistical issues with the App Store... Working on it & will be there soon.

— TabloTV (@TabloTV) June 17, 2016

Update 2: The company said the app went live Friday night:

@jazzynaturist Rolling out now! Keep hitting refresh :)

— TabloTV (@TabloTV) June 18, 2016

Nuvyyo, the Ottawa-based maker of Tablo’s product line, said the new 1.0 version of the app is free, and enables users to discover, record and stream live TV and playback recorded shows and movies via the Apple TV, which also features an integrated voice navigation system.

According to Nuvyyo, Tablo users can also skip commercials simply by asking Siri to jump ahead in the stream.

Tablo won’t say how many consumers have its product, but said most of its customer base is made up of cord-cutters.

Its HD DVR connects to digital OTA antennas to bring in free, local HDTV broadcast signals, and connects to the home network over WiFi or Ethernet to stream to supported devices, including the new Apple TV (and through AirPlay on previous-gen Apple TV boxes), Roku (as a channel), via Google’s Chromecast streaming adapter (on Android devices and Chrome browsers with a Chromecast extention), and by using the Tablo web app with an HDMI-enabled computer linked to a TV. 

Its two-tuner OTA HDTV DVR sells for $219.99, while the four-tuner runs $299.99 (the set-up also requires a USB-connected hard drive for watching live TV and recording programming). Tablo also recommends that its users subscribe to its optional guide data service, which runs $4.99 per month, $49.99 per year, or $149.99 for a lifetime membership. The company is currently promoting free antenna bundles for its two- and four-tuner DVR products.

“Cord cutters and cord nevers have a plethora of choices when it comes to set-top-boxes and our goal is to offer Tablo support for as many as we can,” Grant Hall, Nuvyyo’s CEO said, in a statement. “Now that Apple has expanded its App Store to the living room with the latest generation Apple TV, we can deliver Tablo’s easy-to-use live TV and recordings interface on all four industry-leading streaming media devices.”

Tablo’s competitors include Channel Master, which makes a subscription-free DVR that’s also tailored for cord-cutters, and TiVo, which recently added storage and eliminated monthly subscription service fees for the Roamio OTA.

Here’s now  Tablo promotes and positions its product for cord-cutters:

[embed]https://vimeo.com/100905776[/embed]

TiVo’s days as a maker of hardware products for retail sale and for distribution through MVPD partners could be nearing the end.

"Being in the hardware business isn't something that necessarily excites us," Peter Halt, CFO of Rovi, which is acquiring TiVo for $1.1 billion (and adopting the TiVo brand), said Thursday at the Cowen and Company Annual Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, according to this transcript of the discussion (via ZatzNotFunny).

"There are several box providers out there who have direct-to-retail,” Halt said. “We'll be looking at the possibilities of working with them, having them control the box. And while that would be a partnership and we wouldn't get all the sales as a result, we think that's probably a better way to approach the consumer space."

That Rovi has little interest in being in the hardware business is not anything new. It quickly gave the Fan TV box the heave-ho soon after acquiring Fanhattan for $12 million and instead pursued a plan to integrate Fan TV navigation and discovery software into its other products.

Halt expanded on that decision, noting that Rovi figured it would have to remain “box-agnostic” so it could sell the software to other device makers.

Halt was also clear that Rovi would not be looking to exit the consumer space.

That echoes what was said soon after Rovi and TiVo announced the deal.

“We view this [retail] as a very important channel to be able to maintain focus on,” John Burke, EVP and COO of Rovi, said at the time.  Burke also stressed that TiVo’s experience in the direct-to-consumer side has also helped the company build better products for its MVPD partners.

And TiVo has already begun to distance itself from the business of making hardware as it pushed ahead with a restructuring that placed a bigger focus on MVPD partnerships and more efficient spending on the retail end.  It has also talked about putting resources into products “that go beyond the traditional DVR.” But that was also said before the Rovi deal was announced.

Plus, TiVo’s already been more than eager to port its platform to third-party hardware. Severalset-top makers, including Arris/Pace, Evolution Digital, Technicolor and Kaon, have signed on to use TiVo’s Hardware Porting Kit. It’s also working with box partners on “operator-optimized” products that support 4K and High Dynamic Range.

And TiVo’s reduced reliance on a hardware business has shown up in the numbers. In Q1, TiVo posted total revenues of $107.3 million, down from $114.7 in the year ago quarter, as hardware revenues fell to $7.5 million from $22.3 million.

TiVo announced last month that it had about 7 million subs ahead of Q1 earnings, and followed through Tuesday with word that it ended the period with 7.1 million, with 6.1  million coming way of deals with cable operators and other MVPD partners.  

TiVo, which is in the process of being acquired by Rovi for $1.1 billion, said MSO subs rose 28% in Q1. Overall, the company added 315,000 subs in Q1 – 312,000 via MSOs alongside 3,000 TiVo-owned net adds. That result helped TiVo’s retail base to inch up to 974,000, an 18% reduction in total acquisition spend compared to the year-earlier period.  TiVo said its retail product churn was 1.3%, the lowest quarterly result in that category in seven years.

TiVo pulled in service and software and technology revenues of $99.7 million in Q1, up 8%, along with net income of $4.2 million, narrowed from $9.1 million in the year-ago quarter. The Q1 2016 result includes $5.2 million in Rovi transaction costs and $3.7 million in restructuring expenses that were partially offset by a $3.2 million tax benefit from those items.  Operator-related service and software revenue rose 44%.

TiVo posted total Q1 revenue of $107.3 million, down from $114.7 in the year ago quarter, as hardware revenues dropped to $7.5 million from $22.3 million. Shares were down 15 cents ( 1.51%) to $9.80 in after-hours trading Tuesday.

"We are very pleased with our solid execution this quarter which continues to position us for a successful combination with Rovi,” Naveen Chopra, TiVo’s interim CEO, said in a statement. “Rapid change in the video landscape continues to underscore the value of companies that can bring simple, distinctive, and comprehensive navigation to an increasingly fragmented world of video content and consumption”

TiVo said the Rovi merger is moving forward as planned. The deal, announced on April 29, is expected to close in Q3 2016.

TiVo ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $503 million.

For its fiscal 2017, TiVo affirmed that it expects service and software and technology revenue of $400 million to $420 million, with net income of $40 million to $50 million.

TiVo isn't scheduled to release its next batch of earnings for a while yet, but the company has gone ahead and announced that it has 7 million subscribers – a figure that is heavily weighted on TiVo’s partnerships with MVPDs.

TiVo said its total cumulative subscriptions have grown by about 1.5 million, or 27%, since January 31, 2015, citing ongoing rollouts here and abroad with Virgin Media, Vodafone Spain, RCN, Cogeco and Suddenlink, among others.  Most of TiVo’s MVPD subs come way of operators based outside the U.S.

TiVo which recently restructured under a plan that puts a greater emphasis on MVPD partnerships along with less spendign on retail activities, ended its fiscal Q4 with 6.8 million subs – 5.47 million via MSO partnerships and 971,000 that are retail/“TiVo-owned.”

"Our subscription growth tells a clear story: customers and consumers want a simple way to deal with an increasingly fragmented viewing experience -- and TiVo continues to be one of the most elegant solutions available,” TiVo interim CEO Naveen Chopra said in a statement.

"The changes we're making to our business and the sharper focus on execution will continue to fuel innovation, subscription growth, and enhanced profitability,” he added.”We are very proud of this milestone, and more importantly, we have an incredible amount of opportunity in front of us and a plan for capturing it."

TiVo is reportedly in acquisition talks with Rovi.According to Bloomberg, they are debating over valuation and quibbling over the longer-term value of their patents and other intellectual property, and added that no deal is imminent and that a proposed marriage could still fall apart.

Following up on six trends driving the future of content, here are six technology-enabled developments that are driving how television content is distributed and consumed.

1. More (and Smarter) Devices

Both mobile and stationary devices will continue to populate the home, business and travel lives of Americans. That’s because we like it! The average U.S. TV household  has gone from one TV set to several, and from just TVs to other devices, and from just one mobile device to several. That’s a lot of screens, especially considering each home on average has just a bit more than two folks living in it. Most of these devices will also acquire more and more storage and computing power. Read more.

2. Data Use Grows

Data will come from many platforms, e.g., social media’s Twitter tweets will factor into comScore’s and Nielsen’s measurements of “total viewing audiences and their preferences.” Data will not just determine if people like programming, but as importantly, it will more and more determine what people will like, and thus what content gets made. This will include the advertisements consumers watch, which will be more and more targeted, based upon the likes and dislikes of that viewer, and that viewer only. Read more.

3. Internet of Things

A business colleague in Denver, Colo., tells of the audio speakers in his living room being run off of an Internet connection. This is but one early example of how more and more devices – including those in the video and TV worlds – will be connected to the Internet for the purposes of more viewing enjoyment and sophistication. Of course, this also ties in with the trend above, that of data use. Unimaginable information sources are just being developed today, which will completely drive the what, where, how, why and when of TV viewing, in no less than a couple of years. Read more here and here.

4. Distribution Migration

The transition of millions of former pay TV subscribers to IP-enabled devices is the paradigm of this trend. Another great example is that of wireless providers rivaling wireline providers in the delivery and distribution of content to America. And there will be more such transitions, as large, small, and medium-sized content-rights holders and distributors grapple with the best technology to deliver those ones and zeros. But a tiny example of this migration is the challenge presenting itself to cable and telcos by the upstart Alternative Broadband Providers.

5. Enhanced (and Advanced) Digital Media

For years, this side of the industry has also been known as Advanced Media Services or Advanced Digital Media. Examples include DVRs and VOD during the past couple of decades, and most recently Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality capabilities. Applying these two latter viewing options to just video gaming alone,opens up a multibillion-dollar industry subsector. And there will be more and more, as regularly as in the past there have been new TV shows introduced every September. HDTV, 4K, and UHDTV are additional examples on the picture-quality side of the ledger.

6. The Pie Grows

The knee-jerk reaction is to look at OTT/broadband/streaming video services and predict a sharp fall off in traditional distribution modes. But perhaps one of the best examples is that of the Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) industry and its influence on cable. Sure, cable lost subscribers, but cable found ways to enhance the most important benchmark, i.e., average revenue per unit (ARPU). Cable also found its way into a couple more technologies, i.e., telephone and Internet/broadband service, and made a huge investment in better infrastructure. Thus, the better measure was to describe the “Video World in a Post-DBS Era” as having increased the options, rather than one ruining the other. So, too, will most of these technologies and developments above, as well as the content trends in Part One, encapsulate the same theme: The Pie Grows. (And what could be better for “The Consumer Choice Culture” that is American TV today — and tomorrow?)

Jimmy Schaeffler is chairman and CSO ofThe Carmel Group, a streaming/broadband, broadcast and pay TV/video consultancy based in Carmel by the Sea, Calif.; he writes about telecommunications, entertainment and media.