TiVo records an exit

PVR maker prez Guenther ankles after 2 yrs.

By DAVID BLOOM

Guenther

TiVo prexy Morgan Guenther is ankling the post he held for less than two years, with his departure from the TV time-shifting appliance maker effective at the end of January.

Guenther joined TiVo in 1999, and became prexy in October 2001. The company did not explain in its release why Guenther is departing, but a company spokeswoman said it was an opportune time for his departure because he had accomplished his goals. Company is beginning a search for a replacement to handle Guenther's business-development responsibilities.

His departure comes at a time of some ferment in the market sector that TiVo helped define. TiVo and arch-rival SonicBlue recently agreed to drop a series of patent suits against each other that was bleeding both companies. But SonicBlue, still facing lawsuits from the entertainment industry over its Replay personal video recorders, is now seeking possible buyers or merger partners to rescue it from its financial challenges.

Personal video recorders such as TiVo's have inspired remarkable adoration among users, but that hasn't been sufficient to send the sector's sales into the stratosphere yet. TiVo remains the market leader, with more than 510,000 people paying not only for the device but for a subscription service that records programming in anticipation of the user's interests.

Fewer than 2 million people have some sort of TiVo-like capabilities built into their satellite TV receivers, cable set-top boxes, multimedia computers and stand-alone devices, the Consumer Electronics Assn. estimates. TiVo officials, who hope to double their total sales this year, maintain the sector is beginning to hit the critical mass needed to create a DVD-like level of market acceptance.