another Tivo user here with lifetime of the box subscription.... actually on the second go around
I bought my wife one probably 20 years ago. That box got so long in the tooth and wasn't happy, so instead of fixing it (or trying to) I just bought another box and had to buy a new "lifetime" service. That second box was bought Oct 2016. She still uses it almost daily, but with the streaming services being so prolific now it gets less use now days...
We also started on TIVO 20 years ago, and currently have two full TIVO boxes and two Minis (which don't require monthly subscription). We were motivated to find SOMETHING that let us skip through commercials (it was an election year) and settled on TIVO. We go to relative's homes for the holidays and are STUNNED at the number of commercials they sit through.
The monthly payment is worth it, as far as I'm concerned. Everything is automated. Want to watch Channel 6 news at 6 PM? Set it up as a season pass, and it automatically records each program. Set it to save the last N recordings, and it automatically deletes the older ones.
Looking for an older movie? Set it up on the wish list, in case any of your stations ever air it.
Wanna see movies with particular actor(s)? Add "Gregory Peck" to a Wish List and it records all of Peck's movies (or offers them to you to select to record). I hadn't realized that Henry Fonda was in a TV western series in the 1950s....
You can set up a wish list for program genres, too...Western, Science Fiction, War, etc.
Not to mention the ability to do "Instant Replay" or "Slo-Mo" for sporting events, like any DVR.
Many of our streaming services are set up via the TIVO, so not only do you need only one remote control to access everything, the remote works the same on all the services.
Ron Wanttaja