UPDATE 1-TiVo posts narrower quarterly loss

(Adds forecasts, Reuters Estimates)

LOS ANGELES, March 7 (Reuters) - TiVo Inc. (TIVO.O), a maker of digital video recorders, on Wednesday posted a narrower quarterly loss, beating estimates, as revenues rose.

The Alviso, California-based company had a fourth-quarter net loss attributable to common shareholders of $18.7 million, or 19 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $21.1 million, or 25 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Analysts, on average, had forecast a loss of 36 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

TiVo, whose systems let users skip commercials and record programs on a built-in computer hard drive, said service and technology revenues rose 22 percent year-over-year to $57.4 million in the fourth quarter. Net revenues rose to $77.6 million from $60.1 million.

Cumulative total subscriptions as of January 31, 2007 rose slightly from the prior quarter to 4.4 million.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2008, TiVo estimates service and technology revenues of $57 million to $58 million, a net loss of $4 million to break-even, and an adjusted EBITDA profit of $1 million to $5 million.

Analysts, on average, forecast a net loss of $5.8 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Earlier on Wednesday, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN.O) launched a service that lets users watch video purchased on the Internet and sent to a home television hooked up to a TiVo set-top box.

TiVo shares rose more than 5 percent on Nasdaq after the launch was announced. Last month, analysts said the service shows content companies may be embracing TiVo as both a potential partner and a distribution platform.

Amazon's TiVo partnership extends the online retailer's Unbox download service, and takes it one step further than online video stores like Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s (WMT.N) or Apple Inc.'s (AAPL.O) iTunes, which are geared toward computers or portable devices.

Movies and TV shows from "Amazon Unbox on TiVo" will be available to download to a customer's TiVo box from computers for playback on their television set.

For TiVo, Unbox adds another factor that differentiates its video-recording technology from generic digital video recorders offered by cable and satellite providers.

Viewers must buy their video, or pay for the rental, from personal computers. TiVo downloads will count against a two-PC limit on Unbox purchases, though Unbox users can still download the shows to two handheld devices. The content cannot be burned onto DVDs.

Viewers are not currently able to purchase Unbox titles directly through their TVs, but that is something the two companies are exploring, TiVo Chief Executive Tom Rogers has said.

On Wednesday, he said this was a priority. "Over time, (this deal) will be a contributor to incremental revenues when we can allow people to buy (movies) using their remote control," said Rogers, adding that for now the deal was a valuable marketing tool for TiVo.