Branding

TiVo Turns 25

A short history of a game-changing brand — and brand name.

There were no “smart TVs” when TiVo introduced its digital video recorder on March 31, 1999. There was no way to pause or rewind a television program while it was in progress; skip past commercials in real time; or record and watch programs whenever it suited you — not unless you had two videocassette recorders or some high-end professional equipment and knew a lot of what were then called “trick plays.”