Who Knew? Broadcaster Scripps Quietly Paid $14 Million for Tablo TV Maker Nuvyyo 13 Months Ago

Nuvyyo Tablo Quad-tuner HDMI DVR.
(Image credit: Nuvyyo)

Broadcast giant E.W. Scripps quietly paid $14 million in January of 2022 to acquire Canadian startup Nuvyyo, maker of the popular Tablo TV OTA DVR device. 

The revelation comes from The Verge, which stumbled upon the until-now unreported purchase while perusing a Scripps 10-Q regulatory filing

“It’s a very important project to us,” said Scripps Networks chief distribution officer Jeffrey Wolf to The Verge.  “It allows viewers to watch over-the-air content essentially on demand." 

Tablo TV is essentially a digital video recorder connected to an over-the-air antenna. It connects on the other end to a user's Wi-Fi network, enabling them to stream broadcast signals, recorded or live, from a wide range of connected TV gadgets, mobile devices and PC browsers. 

Like many broadcasters, Scripps is bullish about OTA and wants to promote the use of traditional broadcast antennas to consumers. 

Further, Scripps would like to enable the usage of ATSC 3.0, a (relatively) new broadcast TV tech standard that's still not so amply supported by smart TVs and other consumer video gadgets. 

As The Verge postulates, a company like Nuvyyo could be useful in making devices that help consumers connect to the so-called NextGen TV standard. 

Daniel Frankel

Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!