TiVo chief decides TV networks are his friends
Remember when TiVo ran ads where TV viewers defenestrated network executives? CEO Tom Rogers doesn't, either. Vultures have circled over the hardware maker ever since cable companies realized they, too, could make digital video recorders. Rogers has taken the hint. With an extreme business makeover, he's now selling Tivo as a media company built around selling ads, not skipping them. Now TiVo is offering networks a sweet deal: Give TiVo money in exchage for second-by-second ratings and a nifty gimmick that plants an advertiser's banner ad onto the screen of anyone fast forwarding through commercials.