Tom Rogers

Tom Rogers is a digital media/traditional media/media technology executive who has shaped many corners of the communications industry. From revolutionizing business and news coverage through the creation of CNBC, with the first broadcast coming on April 17, 1989, and MSNBC, to changing the face of TV consumption through TiVo, including such impactful innovations as bringing Netflix and Amazon (company) to initiate the streaming TV era; to overseeing such iconic media brands from New York Magazine to Arts & Entertainment and History channels; to writing many of the nation's key laws that governed the development of today's media industry.

From print to television to digital to gaming, Rogers’ influence has been felt throughout all media sectors. His career has operated at the nexus of media, gaming, digital transformation, technology and public policy for more than three decades.

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. He also serves on the American Bar Association Task Force for American Democracy.

Oorbit

Rogers is currently Executive Chairman of Oorbit Gaming and Entertainment. Oorbit is providing access for gaming enthusiasts to a wealth of very high-quality games that are not available through the major game consoles. In enabling users to gain access to highly sophisticated games on par with the software quality of many of the best known triple A games, Oorbit is opening up the breadth of gaming options for gamers and developers alike. Oorbit’s pioneering new distribution technology, through a multi-cloud streaming solution, powers the highest quality interactive gaming experiences, directly to a phone or the TV set, without the need for any console device. The Oorbit solution does so at far lower distribution cost than is otherwise available in the market. This combination of access to a treasure trove of high-quality games, along with distribution technology that enables a first-class experience in terms of speed, resolution and interactivity at low cost, all come together to create a whole new level of offering for the gaming market.

In announcing Mr. Rogers’ appointment as Executive Chairman, Ash Koosha, CEO of Oorbit stated, “From steering TiVo as the first company to stream Netflix and Amazon to the TV set, to providing the marketplace with advanced measurements of streaming gaming and esports at Engine, it is clear that Tom has had a major impact throughout the streaming media world. As Oorbit takes streaming of gaming to a whole new level, having Tom on board will be of enormous value to us.”

Newsweek

Rogers is Editor-at-Large for Newsweek, and writes columns on policy and political issues for Newsweek. He often appears on Morning Joe on MSNBC to discuss his Newsweek commentaries.

CNBC

Rogers is a CNBC contributor and has been a frequent guest on business news channels including Fox Business Network and Bloomberg TV. Notable appearances include CNBC's Squawk on the Street, CNBC's Mad Money with Jim Cramer, CNBC's Fast Money (talk show), and Fox Business Network's Countdown to the Closing Bell.

TRget Media, LLC

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

Frequency Networks, Inc.

Rogers serves as independent director of the board of Frequency, Inc, a company that provides technology services to create and enable free advertising supported streaming TV channels (FAST channels).

Engine Gaming & Media Inc.

From 2020 to 2023, Rogers was Executive Chairman of Engine Gaming and Media, Inc, (a Nasdaq listed company trading under the symbol GAME) and then Executive Chairman of Gamesquare, Inc. which merged with Engine Gaming and now trades as GAME on Nasdaq. Engine Gaming was, and Gamesquare is, composed of several gaming and media solutions businesses. Engine Gaming was created in May 2020 from the merger of three companies: WinView Games, Torque Esports, and Frankly Media.

WinView, Inc.

Appointed in May 2016, Rogers was Executive Chairman of WinView Games, Inc. a Silicon Valley company, until the merger creating Engine Media. WinView provided a platform for competitive social games for money while watching live sports on TV, backed by a substantial patent portfolio.

Frankly, Inc.

Rogers was appointed in March 2017 as chairman of Frankly, Inc., a publicly traded company that managed 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.

Captify, Limited

Rogers is chairman of Captify, Limited, a UK based advertising technology company with offices in New York, Paris and Madrid. He was appointed chairman in 2018 and served in that capacity until the company's sale in 2022. Captify’s primary offering is aggregating over 40 billion pieces of internet search data a month to enable major brands around the world to effectively target their marketing efforts.

TiVo, Inc.

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. 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.

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

NBC Universal Cable

Rogers was the first president of NBC Cable (now NBCUniversal Cable) and Executive Vice President of NBC, as well as NBC’s chief strategist. 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.

As the first president of NBC Cable Rogers oversaw the establishment of National Geographic Channel, Court TV 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.

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

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, which established the federal regulatory framework for the cable industry, and for overseeing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

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.

From 1994 to 1999 Tom served for four years as president and one year as Chairman of the International Academy of Television which among other things, oversees the International Emmy Awards.

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.

Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame

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."

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."

Cable Hall of Fame

Rogers was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame in 2016. Morning Joe hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough said, "He started MSNBC and took TiVo by storm... Tom is a legend."

Emmy Awards

He is also the winner of Emmy Awards for his contributions to the development of advanced television and advanced advertising. Tom was also inducted as a Cable Pioneer.