ReplayTV Sold to DirecTV (Huh?)

I’ve lost track of how many times ReplayTV has switched hands. And today they’ve ended up under DirecTV’s (DTV) wing for who knows what purpose. Replay had abandoned the hardware DVR market, though they still have subscribers (that we know), and they’ve been making a play for the PC software DVR market. A small fish in a small pond.

So far, this is all we know:

Japan’s D&M Holdings Inc said on Thursday it had sold its ReplayTV business, which develops software for digital video recorders, to DirecTV of the United States for an undisclosed sum.

Perhaps DTV will put out a release and clue us in to their intentions. Until then, I guess we’ll just have to speculate… I suppose it’s possible they could (think about) using the ReplayTV interface on their DVRs, re-enter the stand-alone hardware business, or just hang onto Replay’s patent portfolio for a rainy day (when/if their do-not-sue deal with TiVo (TIVO) expires in 2010).

Comments

[Valueplay98]

I'm just an average DTV user ... we had TIVO for about 2 years when the drive busted. DTV sent us a new DVR and the wifey HATED it. We bought a new TIVO drive (and bigger) off Ebay for 100$, and it was well worth it! The day will come soon that there won't be a need for DVRs as recording TV content onto a computer will be simple enough for even me to figure out.

[squawk]

Most likely, they bought Replay for its patent portfolio, & at an attractive price since it appears D&M and its principal investor wished to liquidate their investment in Replay.