TV Industry Veteran Tom Rogers to Helm TiVo

Alviso, CA – With hopes of brighter and more profitable days ahead, TiVo announced the replacement of company co-founder Mike Ramsay with television industry veteran Tom Rogers as its president and CEO effective July 1, 2005. A member of the Alviso, California-based company's board since 1999, Rogers has been serving as vice chairman of TiVo's board of directors since late 2003.  

Tom Rogers, new president and CEO of TiVo, formerly headed Primedia and held top NBC posts.

Rogers is noted for his instrumental role in the sealing TiVo's pivotal distribution deal with Comcast, the largest cable operator in the U.S., earlier this year. While TiVo pioneered digital video recording technology and holds solid brand recognition, the company has struggled to make money and views this licensing deal with Comcast as a great catalyst for growth.

Sources say the non-exclusive agreement calls for TiVo to market its components to Comcast customers by 2006. Rogers said his prior business relations with top Comcast executives were key to closing this deal, and confirmed that it has spurred talks of similar distribution arrangements with other cable entities.

Rogers, formerly Chairman and CEO of targeted media company Primedia until he resigned in 2003, held top positions with NBC and reportedly started NBC's first investment in TiVo in 1999. As president of NBC Cable and executive vice president at NBC, Rogers reportedly led the development of CNBC and MSNBC.  Now charged with strengthening TiVo, Rogers has trumpeted the service as a "cultural phenomenon" and said that once people have it, they are hooked. Rogers began his career as an attorney for a Wall Street law firm and served as Senior Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Consumer Protection and Finance.

Ramsay, who co-founded TiVo in 1997 and announced his intention to vacate the CEO chair earlier this year, said that he has enjoyed watching Rogers' passion for TiVo grow and has "real confidence that he will be successful in taking the company to the next level." Ramsay will continue to serve on TiVo's board of directors.
-J. Bolden