# Tivo, why won't you play ball? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 22, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tivo-why-wont-you-play-ball/554685 "2010-09-22T19:14:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tivo-why-wont-you-play-ball/554685/1 "2010-09-22T19:14:54Z")
I have 2 Tivos, a TivoHD and an old Series 2. The Series 2 died recently, so I called Tivo about canceling the service on it, figured I’d save the ~$10 per month. Of course I had to go through their polite but persistent efforts to let them fix my Series 2 or upgrade to a Tivo Premiere. Fix wasn’t really a good option, I didn’t want to spend money on an old standard-definition Tivo with analog tuner (hooked to a converter box). Upgrade would be ok, but they wanted $200 for a Tivo Premiere. I told them I didn’t have $200 to spend right now, which I don’t. I went for broke and told them I’d pay $100 to upgrade and continue my service. The guy said he didn’t think he could do that, but he would check. ~10 minutes later he came back on the phone and said he had a deal for me; 3 months of free service if I buy the $200 Premiere. :\ I told him thanks but no thanks, that’s still $200 out of my pocket right now. It really surprises me Tivo wouldn’t give up $100 to keep me paying $10 per month for my second Tivo. They would make the $100 back in 10 months. I’ve been a subscriber for 5 years or more, they were aware of that and mentioned it several times. Oh well, on that TV there’s still live TV (blah) and Netflix streaming. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tivo-why-wont-you-play-ball/554685/2 "2010-09-22T19:22:15Z")
So, they offered you a $100 discount on a Tivo Premier, and you tried to get a $200 discount on the thing. They countered with a $130 discount ($100+3mo@$10), which you weren’t interested in. I don’t blame you for trying, but I also don’t blame them for saying they weren’t interested in sweetening their offer by $70. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tivo-why-wont-you-play-ball/554685/3 "2010-09-22T19:27:23Z")
I’m interested in this converter of which you speak. I have a Series 2 Tivo that is less than functional now that signals have gone all digital. It also has lifetime subscription on it, so I’d like to make it functional again. If I can do this without spending lots of dough I would be very very happy. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tivo-why-wont-you-play-ball/554685/4 "2010-09-22T19:52:27Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > I’m interested in this converter of which you speak. > I have a Series 2 Tivo that is less than functional now that signals have gone all digital. > It also has lifetime subscription on it, so I’d like to make it functional again. > If I can do this without spending lots of dough I would be very very happy. Should be about $40 for a converter box. Tivo was nice enough to upgrade the Series 2 Tivo operating system to support digital converter boxes. This link should get you started: [http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a\_id/310](http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/310) ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tivo-why-wont-you-play-ball/554685/5 "2010-09-22T19:56:30Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > I’m interested in this converter of which you speak. > I have a Series 2 Tivo that is less than functional now that signals have gone all digital. > It also has lifetime subscription on it, so I’d like to make it functional again. > If I can do this without spending lots of dough I would be very very happy. A series 2 is able to control some external cable boxes either through a cable or an IR emitter. The [IR emitter](http://www.weaknees.com/images/cables/tivo_ir_blaster.jpg) should have come with your tivo. You setup your system like this: Cable—\> Digital Box from Cable Company –\> Tivo When tivo wants to change channels, it tells the digital box to change the channel. It’s the same basic setup when you have a cable box going straight to the TV. Your remote controls the cable box and signal is sent on channel 3 to the TV. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tivo-why-wont-you-play-ball/554685/6 "2010-09-22T19:59:17Z")
**sachertorte** is talking about antenna, but same general idea except it’s: Antenna —\> Digital Converter box —\> Tivo Series 2 This of course isn’t necessary for TivoHD or any newer Tivo that has digital tuner(s). ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tivo-why-wont-you-play-ball/554685/7 "2010-09-22T20:03:34Z")
Cool. Thanks. Might as well get some use out of our Tivo.