TiVo searches the program guide for keyword matches to record. Unfortunately, the program guide can be spotty. At least it was about the Patriots. It's not perfect, but it's a nice feature. Better control over what gets recorded.
Users can also specify how many episodes of a current show to keep.
Again, a useful function in the abstract, but the implementation is imperfect. Many sports and other programs show up as re-runs in the programming guide that TiVo uses to decide what to record. The ability to limit the number of episodes recorded. This is very useful, especially if you've used the Season Pass feature to record every episode of a show. However, TiVo doesn't delete older recorded episodes as instructed.