Online Extra: Q&A With Tom Rogers

Cable World,  April 4, 2005  

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An expanded interview with TiVo vice chairman Tom Rogers.

By Shirley Brady

Tom Rogers has deep roots in cable. He crafted NBC's cable strategy (including CNBC, MSNBC) and helped overhaul the 1996 Telecommunications Act. He then ran Primedia until 2003, where he developed a VOD service that became Mag Rack. Since then, he has launched his own consultancy, TRget Media, and advises a slew of media companies. His highest-profile gig is as vice chairman of TiVo, which hired him, in part, to land cable deals. Two weeks ago--defying all naysayers--he closed a deal with Comcast. Rogers says his goal is to "accelerate TiVo's emergence in the media world--and obviously cable deals come within that." Expect him to be working the floor at this week's National Show in San Francisco.

CableWORLD: What does landing Comcast mean for TiVo?

Tom Rogers: It's a great deal for Comcast, it's a great deal for TiVo. It's incredibly validating for TiVo, because there were a lot of people who were questioning whether TiVo had to have this kind of deal. We've now faced that head on and answered it in a very significant way. Comcast made some very clear statements about the value of the TiVo brand, the customer satisfaction, its unique advertising platform, which is very different than the rest of the DVR world, and other advanced features that again are unique.

CW: Will this speed up your other cable deals?

Rogers: When you have Comcast--the largest packager of television product in the country, the marketing leader in rolling out advanced digital services in the country--saying, "TiVo's going to be part of our package and we want to associate this brand with our customers," once we had the right deal that balances our interests the way they need to be balanced, it makes a whole lot more sense to be in a cooperative relationship with each other than circling each other in terms of how we relate.

CW: Does it change the perception of TiVo from being a competitor to the cable industry into a partner?

Rogers: There's no doubt that the interests of TiVo and cable are compatible. I've always found that once you figure out the right formula with cable, that cable deal can be a great success. Every cable operator is considering rollouts of DVRs. But what TiVo brings to the table is a highly recognized, highly valuable brand, along with an advertising medium that generic DVRs have not thought through or really incorporated yet, which can be a very valuable way for cable to participate in a world where consumers are viewing television differently and coming to television differently in terms of how they go through commercials in a DVR environment versus how they view television today. It's not a single channel experience. I've been involved with CNBC, MSNBC, A&E, History, Court TV, a ton of others, and each one of them has their role in the world but they're just one piece of a massive number of offerings that are available. What's so unique about TiVo is it defines a viewing experience across everything you watch on television, and with that it brings a way to approach TV that will definitely benefit Comcast. The fact that these negotiations took the time they did shows that both sides really came to an appreciation that they wouldn't have necessarily had six months, about just how effectively they could work together.

CW: Spell out exactly what's in it for Comcast and other cable operators.

Rogers: If the cable operator has made a decision they're going to have a DVR, there are clear advantages to the TiVo DVR. TiVo offers distinctive features whether it's being able to take your programs with you when you go on a trip [TiVoToGo] or remotely programming your DVR when you're at work, things that are not available elsewhere...But I've been a student of enough cable deals to know that when something is different and new, you have a lot of circling to do to figure out the right way to do it. The Comcast deal is not only a milestone for TiVo, it's a milestone for the cable industry.

CW: And for cable customers?

Rogers: Definitely. This came about through both sides recognizing that there's a new way that people are watching and embracing television. The cable industry is going to be part of offering TiVo, and we are now part of the cable industry. I've been involved in a lot of threshold deals, doing the first retransmission consent deals with broadcast and cable learning that they were going to be on the same side of the equation, they just had to figure out the formula for doing that. And today you see every broadcast network having multiple cable channels and most looking at the greater part of their growth coming out of cable than broadcast, such as in Viacom's announcement to split its company into two. So this is cable now looking at how to bring a great consumer experience to their subscribers, and TiVo learning to create all the balances that it needed in this arrangement.