Thursday, March 15, 2007

Calls of Note Part 6

- Citigroup comments on TiVo (NASDAQ:TIVO) after Steve Sordello, CFO, presented at firm's Small/Mid-Cap conference today. The presentation was generally positive and well received.

The company outlined five growth drivers in 2007, namely: 1) premium content (eg. AMZN deal and broadband content), 2) Comcast rollout later this spring, 3) a new HD box that will be cheaper than the current box, 4) a mix shift in advertisements and subsidies, and 5) DVR advertising. TIVO expects to see lower cash intensity as it moves away from retail rebates. As such, mgmt does not foresee a need to solicit addt'l capital from the market.

TIVO envisions only requiring a "modest upcharge" for Comcast subs to get a TiVo box. This is a positive for TIVO as it presents less of an economic hurdle to overcome in penetrating cable MSO households.

While TIVO regards DTV's ownership change as a net positive, it remains focused on cable. Expects DISH trial to conclude by yr. end. Reit Buy & $11 tgt.

Notablecalls: Looks like TIVO investors have some catalysts to look forward to. I would not be surprised to see some buy interest over the next couple of days.

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