By LAURA A. LOCKE | SAN FRANCISCO
Posted Sunday, June 29, 2003; 14.08BST
"Are you the devil?" That was the opening zinger posed to panelist Mike Ramsay, TiVo chairman and CEO, in front of a room full of TV advertising executives last September. It was the killer question everyone wanted answered.
TiVo's personal video recorders (PVRs) let users download their favorite shows and zip past commercials — and traditional marketers are running scared. By 2007, half of all American TV viewers will own PVRs — and 20% intend to skip ads. But even if TiVo has been devilishly effective at giving the viewers what they want — or eliminating what they don't — the company has gone through tough times. Last year, for instance, the 53-year-old CEO radically changed the business model to address new market realities. "We built this company when capital was virtually free," recalls board member Randy Komisar.
With less money to spend on marketing, Ramsay helped TiVo refocus its strategy on reaching profitability faster while closely managing growth. TiVo broke even in January and is now on the verge of profitability. While it should nab its millionth customer by year's end, it's not the market leader — EchoStar's Dish Network has over 5 million customers. But much like another consumer darling, Apple computer, TiVo has some of the hottest, sexiest products around.
TiVo's best asset, however, is Ramsay. On the day of the "devil" panel, he proved he was unflappable and more than convincing: another panelist, then president of digital media for NBC, now works for Ramsay.
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