M+E Daily

The TiVo Stream 4K streaming device that was launched in 2020 played a key role in the 15 percent increase in Media Platform revenue that Xperi achieved in the fourth quarter (ended Dec. 31), according to Jon Kirchner, Xperi CEO.

Media Platform revenue increased to $11.7 million, “driven by sales of the TiVo Stream 4K and increases in advertising revenue,” he told analysts on an earnings call Feb. 23.

The Media Platform business also includes TiVo Stream OS, monetization and TV viewership data.

“In 2022, we expect double-digit growth in this category, mostly driven by expansion in our advertising-based monetization revenue,” Kirchner said, noting: “This is our fastest-growing category and we are focused on partnerships with TV OEMs, chipset partners and content providers to bring the first TVs powered by TiVo Stream OS in 2023 or 2024.”

The company continued to integrate content by adding Discovery Plus, PBS and CineLife into TiVo Stream 4K and TiVo Plus, it said.

The Q4 results showed Xperi continued to “successfully deliver against the key strategic objectives we set following our merger with TiVo nearly two years ago,” according to Kirchner.

“We’ve accomplished a lot since we closed the merger” of Xperi and TiVo in 2020 “amidst what turned out to be just the early innings of a global pandemic,” he noted, adding: “I’m proud of how our team has been navigating the shifting pandemic challenges to position the company for success.”

On the product side, although COVID-19 and the “associated supply chain disruptions continue to present some unique challenges, we are excited to see major steps taken in our business transformation and a return to growth on the horizon,” he said.

Also on the product side, Xperi has made several “new innovations” in its consumer electronics, connected car and Pay-TV businesses, he said.

For example, he told analysts: “We’re on track to deliver a unique streaming service offering with our TiVo Stream OS on TVs within the next two years, which will accelerate user engagement-based monetization revenue.”

At CES in January, Xperi demonstrated its new mood-based recommendation concept on a single operating platform, which he explained “uses emotion detection to drive music and other media recommendations in vehicles, creating more immersive and personalized next-generation entertainment features, leveraging our in-cabin imaging and entertainment technologies.”

Xperi’s “strong execution in 2021 has enabled another step-up in our average annual baseline revenue for 2022, moving up from $350 million to $375 million, driven by new and improved agreements with leading entertainment companies around the world,” he told advisors.

“As is typical with IP businesses, each year we will have a few key agreements that are up for renewal and the timing of those renewals may have some impact on our quarterly revenue trends,” he noted. “However, we’re confident that we’re well-positioned to successfully complete those renewals within ’22,” he added.

Of Xperi’s Pay-TV business, which now includes Discovery, video metadata, TiVo consumer linear TV subscribers and hardware, he said: “Our long-term focus in this market is driving adoption of our higher-value IPTV solutions, which are positioned to offset declines in our traditional guides business.”

Although its consumer hardware and subscription business is “in decline, we believe growth on IPTV should mostly offset declines within the Pay-TV category,” he told analysts.

The company was especially pleased with “the progress we’ve made around IPTV, as we continue to add new operators with our expanded product offerings,” he noted. “Our total IPTV subscribers grew organically more than five times year-over-year, and double digits every quarter in 2021. We also won several new IPTV customers, including Breezeline, formerly Atlantic Broadband, and helped customers such as Cincinnati Bell launch and begin scaling IPTV.”

Xperi expects its consumer electronics business, which includes DTS audio and imaging solutions in home and mobile and its Perceive business, to “return to growth this year … through supply chain normalization and game consoles, and growth in our Play-Fi wireless and mobile business,” he also said.

“Longer-term, we expect additional growth to come from expansion of our Imax enhanced ecosystem and Perceive as we see the first products utilizing our technology come to market,” he told analysts.

During Q4, Xperi launched Imax Enhanced on LG Soundbars and Vestel TVs, he  pointed out. The company also launched a streaming partnership with Disney Plus with 13 Marvel titles and Sony Pictures expanded its offerings to more than 160 unique Imax Enhanced titles and a total of 798 SKUs across multiple languages, he said.