• BusinessWeek, Friday, June 19, 2009 9:30 AM

TiVo has been hemorrhaging subscribers ever since the cable companies began rolling out their own digital video recorders a few years ago. This year, TiVo will shed about 400,000 subscribers, leaving it with 2.8 million, down from a high of 4.4 million in 2006.

However, by leveraging its brand name and its cache of patents, the company is trying to remake itself as the Google of television-helping viewers navigate the crush of entertainment choices and selling ads to boot. "Like Google, TiVo will bring that ease of use to TV sets," says CEO Thomas S. Rogers.

Where cable's tech can be hard to use, TiVo's interface makes finding shows easy, prompting both Netflix and Blockbuster to use TiVo technology for their online video services. Comcast has also begun offering some subscribers a TiVo "upgrade," where for an extra $3 or so a month they can get TiVo's navigation service. Cox and DirecTV plan to offer TiVo upgrades, too. Rogers figures all the extra eyeballs will help him sell more pop-up ads, which appear on the screen when viewers pause a program or fast-forward through commercials.

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