Tom Rogers (executive) – Wikipedia

Posted on by

American businessman

Thomas “Tom” Rogers is a media/technology executive who founded CNBC and MSNBC[1] Rogers played a major role in television’s transition to the digital era, managing the rollout of innovations like TiVo,[2] as well as bringing digital media companies like Netflix and Amazon (company) to the TV screen. Rogers oversaw numerous media brands like New York Magazine[3] and the Arts & Entertainment and History channels.[4] His career has operated at the nexus of media, technology and public policy for more than three decades.

Education[edit]

Tom is a graduate of Wesleyan University and Columbia Law School. He serves on the Dean’s Council of Columbia Law School, and the joint Columbia Law School/Columbia Business School Richman Center.

Engine Gaming & Media Inc.[edit]

Rogers is Executive Chairman[5] of Engine Media, Inc., a publicly traded company (TSXV: Game). Engine Media was created in May 2020, from the merger[6] of 3 companies: WinView Games, Torque Esports, and Frankly Media. Engine Media provides game of skill offerings for both traditional sports and esports, as well as data services for those looking to navigate the gaming sector, as well as game publishing. It also provides advertising and content management solutions in the mobile and connected TV space. Engine Media’s operating brands include Stream Hatchet, the esports data service; UMG (Ultimate Multiparty Gaming), a gaming competition platform; Eden Games, a mobile game publisher with particular expertise in the auto racing space; WinView (see below); and Frankly Media (see below).

Newsweek[edit]

Rogers is Editor-at-Large for Newsweek, and writes columns on policy and political issues for Newsweek.[7]  

WinView, Inc.[edit]

Appointed in May 2016, Rogers was the current executive chairman of WinView, Inc.,[8] a Silicon Valley company, until the merger creating Engine Media.[9] WinView invented and operates a platform that joins components of TV sports, social media, gaming and mobility. Holding 68[10] patents, WinView is a leading player in “second-screen interactive sports TV,” where viewers can engage in interactive gaming centered on a particular televised sporting event while simultaneously watching live TV sports. About his role at WinView, Front Office Sports has said that, “Before TiVo, there was CNBC. Behind both was Tom Rogers. Now growing a new company, WinView, where he sits as executive chairman, he is on a path to continue innovating within the media landscape.”[11]

Frankly, Inc.[edit]

Rogers was appointed in March 2017 as chairman of Frankly, Inc.,[12] a publicly traded company that manages the digital and mobile news distribution for local broadcast stations and other media properties, including Newsweek, throughout the United States. He served in this capacity until the merger creating Engine Media.[13]

Captify, Limited[edit]

Rogers is chairman of Captify, Limited,[14] a UK based advertising technology company with offices in New York, Paris and Madrid. He was appointed chairman in January, 2018. Captify’s primary offering is a leading semantic technology, while aggregating over 40 billion pieces of internet search data a month to enable major brands around the world to effectively target their marketing efforts.

Frequency, Inc.[edit]

Rogers serves on the board of Frequency, Inc, a company that provides cable, satellite and OTT content operators user interface and meta data for the organization, menuing and presentation of digital and linear video content offerings.

TRget Media, LLC[edit]

Rogers currently serves as chairman of TRget Media, LLC,[15] a media investment and operations advisory firm.

CNBC[edit]

Rogers has been a frequent guest on business news channels including CNBC, Fox Business Network, Bloomberg TV, and MSNBC. Notable appearances include CNBC’s Squawk on the Street,[16] CNBC’s Mad Money with Jim Cramer,[17] CNBC’s Fast Money (talk show), and Fox Business Network’s Countdown to the Closing Bell,[18] and MSNBC’s Morning Joe.[19] He is now a CNBC contributor.[20]

TiVo, Inc.[edit]

For eleven years, from 2005 to 2016, Rogers served as president and CEO of TiVo, Inc., the longest such tenure in the company’s history.[21] TiVo has been seen as vastly changing television viewing behavior through its invention of the DVR. TiVo was sold to Rovi in 2016 at which point Rovi adopted the TiVo name.

PRIMEDIA, Inc.[edit]

Before TiVo, Rogers was chairman and CEO of PRIMEDIA Inc., which was then the leading targeted media company in the United States.[22] PRIMEDIA published some 200 magazines, including New York Magazine, operated more than 400 websites, and owned a wide range of television and video businesses.[23][24]

NBC Universal Cable[edit]

Rogers was the first president of NBC Cable (now NBCUniversal Cable) and executive vice president of NBC, as well as NBC’s chief strategist.[25][26] Among his many accomplishments, Rogers founded CNBC, the nation’s leading business news channel and established the NBC/Microsoft cable channel and internet joint venture, MSNBC.[27][28][29][30][31][32]

As the first president of NBC Cable Rogers was involved in the establishment of National Geographic Channel,[33]Court TV[34] (now truTV) and Independent Film Channel, and served as co-chairman of the board of A&E Television Networks and The History Channel for 10 years. In addition, he oversaw American Movie Classics, Bravo (U.S. TV network), and several regional sports channels.[35] During his 2013 induction into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame, Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of General Electric, said:

“Tom came in to, if you will, to put NBC in the cable business. At NBC, no one had respect for cable, they were broadcasters and never the twain shall meet. Those two words didn’t go together easily. He legitimized it. He made it a place to be.”[36]

Lesley Stahl of CBS News, in announcing his induction into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame, said, “Rogers is a guy who gets things done… and he transforms companies along the way.”[37]

U.S. House of Representatives Telecommunications, Consumer Protection and Finance Subcommittee[edit]

Prior to NBC, Rogers was senior counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Telecommunications, Consumer Protection and Finance Subcommittee, where he was responsible for drafting a number of communications laws including the Cable Franchise Policy and Communications Act of 1984,[38] which established the federal regulatory framework for the cable industry, and for overseeing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).[39]

Additional career[edit]

Rogers has also served as the senior operating executive for media and entertainment for Cerberus Capital Management, a large private equity firm, and as chairman of the board of Teleglobe (now VSNL International Canada), a leading international telecommunications, voice-over-internet, and mobile telephony provider.

Rogers also served as vice chairman of Supermedia (NYSE: SPMD), which was created by the spinoff of Verizon Communications Yellow Pages print and digital business.

Rogers began his career as an attorney with a Wall Street law firm.

Cable Hall of Fame[edit]

Rogers was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame in 2016.[40][41] Morning Joe hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough said, “He started MSNBC and took TiVo by storm… Tom is a legend.”[42]

Emmy Awards[edit]

He is also the winner of Emmy Awards[43] for his contributions to the development of advanced television and advanced advertising. Tom was also inducted as a Cable Pioneer. Tom served for four years as president of the International Television Academy.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Singer, Michael. “Tom Rogers named new CEO of TiVo”. CNET. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  2. ^ Lieberman, David (17 November 2015). “TiVo’s Tom Rogers Gives Up CEO Job, But Will Stay As Chairman”. Deadline. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  3. ^ Sorkin, Andrew Ross; Carr, David (18 April 2003). “Chief Resigns at Primedia; Main Owner Focuses on Sale”. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  4. ^ “The Cable Center – Tom Rogers”. www.cablecenter.org. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  5. ^ Nicholson, Jonno (11 May 2020). “Torque Esports, Frankly and WinView merge to create Engine Media”. Esports Insider. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  6. ^ Corp, Torque Esports. “Torque Esports Corp. Completes Acquisition Of Frankly Inc. And WinView, Inc”. www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  7. ^ “Tom Rogers”. Newsweek. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  8. ^ “WinView Inc. Leadership”. WinView Inc. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  9. ^ Nicholson, Jonno (11 May 2020). “Torque Esports, Frankly and WinView merge to create Engine Media”. Esports Insider. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  10. ^ “Torque Esports, Frankly And WinView Announce Three Way Combination”. Bloomberg.com. 22 November 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  11. ^ “WinView and the Illustrious Career of Tom Rogers”. Front Office Sports. 6 October 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  12. ^ “Frankly Appoints Tom Rogers as chairman of the board”. Reuters. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  13. ^ Nicholson, Jonno (11 May 2020). “Torque Esports, Frankly and WinView merge to create Engine Media”. Esports Insider. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  14. ^ “Tom Rogers Named Chairman Of Ad Tech Company Captify”. Forbes.com. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  15. ^ “Disruptor Awards – Tom Rogers”.
  16. ^ “TiVo Introduces Roamio”. CNBC. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  17. ^ Cramer, Jim (15 October 2013). “TiVo CEO: Hope to Reinvent Television”. CNBC.com. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  18. ^ “TiVo CEO ‘Roamio’ is Apple TV, Google TV, Netflix All in One”. FoxBusiness.com. Fox Business. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  19. ^ “TiVO unveils the commercial-skipping Bolt”. MSNBC.com. Morning Joe. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  20. ^ “CNBC Contributor – Tom Rogers”. CNBC. cnbc.com. 22 November 2017.
  21. ^ Lieberman, David (17 November 2015). “TiVo’s Tom Rogers Gives Up CEO Job, But Will Stay As Chairman”. Deadline. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  22. ^ Kuczynski, Alex (27 September 1999). “Primedia Set To Name NBC Executive As Its Chief”. The New York Times. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  23. ^ “Pressing Forward;Primedia’s Tom Rogers is shaping a new kind of media company”. Advertising Age. 17 April 2000.
  24. ^ “Primedia’s Big Gamble: Going Online with Old Media”. Businessweek. 10 August 2000.
  25. ^ “TiVo CEO: on ‘TiVo Stream’“. CNBC Tv. 22 May 2012.
  26. ^ “Building NBC’s Future”. Broadcasting & Cable. 5 May 1997.
  27. ^ “TiVo CEO: Our Birthright is Innovation”. CNBC Tv. 7 March 2013.
  28. ^ “The End of TV as We Know it”. Fortune. CNN. 23 December 1996. Retrieved 23 October 2013.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  29. ^ “Disney among the best positioned in the media landscape: BofA Securities”. CNBC. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  30. ^ “Defying Republicans, Big Companies Keep the Focus on Voting Rights”. The New York Times. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  31. ^ “Morning Joe: The Push for a Corporate Great Migration”. MSNBC. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  32. ^ “Engine Media’s Tom Rogers breaks down Netflix’s all-time high and the streaming wars”. CNBC. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  33. ^ “National Geographic joining Fox, NBC in television venture”. Associated Press. 5 May 1999.
  34. ^ “Will Views Be Shouting: I Want My Court TV?”. Businessweek. 24 June 1991.
  35. ^ Sandomir, Richard (1 April 1997). “NBC Buys Piece of Garden”. The New York Times. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
  36. ^ “Tom Rogers Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame – 2013”. Vimeo. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  37. ^ “Tom Rogers Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame – 2013”. Vimeo. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  38. ^ Andy Plesser (15 May 2015). “(VIDEO) Media’s Future Is ‘Infinite Choice Meets Personalization’: TiVo’s Rogers”. HuffPost. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  39. ^ “Tom Rogers on Primedia’s potential as an internet player”. Media Life Magazine. October 1999.
  40. ^ Winslow, George (26 April 2013). “Tom Rogers, President and CEO, TiVo Inc”. Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  41. ^ “The Cable Center – Tom Rogers”. www.cablecenter.org. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  42. ^ “TV for the next generation”. MSNBC. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  43. ^ “Emmy Award Winners”. Emmy Awards. Retrieved 25 April 2015.