TiVo, the digital video recorder company that popularized the DVR and revolutionized “time shifting” and fast-forwarding through advertising, is in advanced negotiations to be sold to Rovi, according to people briefed on the talks.

The deal would merge TiVo and Rovi, which is one of the largest owners of patents for digital entertainment devices. Shareholders of TiVo would receive a combination of cash and stock, these people said, though the exact price was still being negotiated. After the deal, shareholders of TiVo, which has a market value of $750 million, would probably own about 30 percent of the combined company, these people said. Rovi’s market value is about $1.7 billion.

The transaction would end the independence of TiVo, a perennial takeover target whose suitors were said to have included Apple, Google and Microsoft.

Rovi, a lesser-known company, may win the prize that is TiVo as a result of an activist investor, Glenn W. Welling of Engaged Capital. Mr. Welling successfully won two seats on the board of Rovi last year. Since then, he pushed the company to re-evaluate its strategy and pressed it to seek a merger with TiVo, these people said.