But–as many readers have requested–they will all be available in their entirety in this column.

Here’s an interview I did with TiVo President and CEO Tom Rogers about the iconic but often-struggling pioneer and leader in the digital video recorder market.

The video of the interview is in four parts, which have all been posted this week.

In this fourth part, Rogers takes questions from the audience about difficulties in installing TiVo (TIVO) with new cable cards, watching television over the Internet, TiVo’s plans in the United Kingdom and internationally, cable box integration, programming being delivered to TiVo boxes by service providers and making the DVR easier to use.

But–as many readers have requested–they will all be available in their entirety in this column.

Here’s an interview I did with TiVo President and CEO Tom Rogers about the iconic but often-struggling pioneer and leader in the digital video recorder market.

The video of the interview is in four parts, which will all be posted this week.

In this third part, Rogers talks about how TiVo (TIVO) is trying to become the “one-stop” interface for cable companies, such as Comcast, and the troubled state of the broadcast television industry.

But–as many readers have requested–they will all be available in their entirety in this column.

Here’s an interview I did with TiVo President and CEO Tom Rogers about the iconic but often-struggling pioneer and leader in the digital video recorder market.

The video of the interview is in four parts, which will all be posted this week.

In this second part, Rogers talks about how TiVo (TIVO) can help the television industry instead of disrupting it, what’s popular on the service and what commercials work best, the company’s successful intellectual property lawsuit against EchoStar to protect its groundbreaking technologies, cable partnerships, and the shifting of its business model, including TiVo’s potential as the future user interface for television.

But–as many readers have requested–they will all be available in their entirety in this column.

Here’s an interview I did with TiVo President and CEO Tom Rogers about the iconic but often-struggling pioneer and leader in the digital video recorder market.

The video of the interview is in four parts, all of which I will post this week.

In this first video, Rogers talks about why he came to TiVo (TIVO), the need to bring the company closer to the media industry and how being a DVR alone is not enough, battling the image of “content thief,” finding new ways to get users to watch commercial messages and making a business by selling networks key data about consumer television-watching behavior.

The Wall Street Journal published a special tab (click the image to make it larger) about our sixth D: All Things Digital conference that took place live two weeks ago.

The Journal editors selected about half of the interviews done there by Walt Mossberg and me, either separately or together, and edited the longer transcripts down to the parts they thought readers would like best.

Those interviews include: Microsoft’s (MSFT) Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer; Yahoo’s (YHOO) Sue Decker and Jerry Yang; Amazon’s (AMZN) Jeff Bezos; Activision’s (ATVI) Bobby Kotick; the Gates Foundation’s Melinda Gates; TiVo’s (TIVO) Tom Rogers; and Rupert Murdoch of News Corp. (NWS) (owner of this site and the conference).

We hope you’ll enjoy the tab, which is both in print and also online. And you can always read all about it in our D6 highlights here, including super-duper live-blogging from the conference by Digital Daily’s John Paczkowski.

There is also a podcast about the conference with Walt and me, conducted by The Wall Street Journal’s Michael Totty.

While Microsoft’s (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer and Yahoo’s (YHOO) CEO Jerry Yang hemmed and hawed about what had happened in their disastrous takeover battle that ended not with a bang, but a whimper, everyone else who appeared onstage at the sixth D: All Things Digital conference last week was a bit more definitive about what should occur now:

Get it done.

From Thomson Reuters’ (TRI) Tom Glocer to IAC’s (IACI) Barry Diller to TiVo’s (TIVO) Tom Rogers to Rupert Murdoch of News Corp. (NWS) (who simply said: “I’d get on with it.”), it seemed obvious to one and all that the only way either had a prayer of catching up with online search leader Google (GOOG) was to join forces.

It seems, according to many sources, that the pair are now in serious talks again, which–if they are smart–will come to some resolution, yes or no, within the next week. (You’ll get first wind of what’s what, as soon as much-frustrated bankers begin their leaking to major news outlets.)

Whatever the case, I dearly hope these discussions are not bogged down as they have been before.

Not in the bits and pieces niggling of some complex partial deal to buy search and spin of this and that here and there in a configuration sure to confuse everyone.

And not continuing with the endless roundelay of price negotiations that seems to have needlessly taken focus off the ball–which is to create a competitive alternative to the incessant brainiacs of Google (and if you want any more proof of that, see this New York Times piece today about the search giant’s data-crunching abilities).

It seems $33 to $34 a share will still wrap the whole thing up and, if Microsoft was serious about its intentions to buy Yahoo when it first made its foray in February, that seems doable.

Because, if Ballmer is serious about his contention, which he made fervently onstage at D6, that the software giant keeps “coming and coming and coming,” it simply cannot make that attack from a piddling 9% market share in the online search business.

One of the most interesting takeaways I had from last week’s interview Walt Mossberg and I did with him and Chairman Bill Gates (who seemed about as underwhelmed by a Yahoo deal as possible without slumping over asleep) was the early focus at the company on fiscal conservatism.

Baked into its DNA, as it turns out, is a fear of bankruptcy even.

While that was funny to hear about–complete with worried financial calculations on sheets of yellow paper stuffed in couches early on–it seems to continue to this day, despite Microsoft’s huge treasure chest of cash.

But Ballmer should slough off that tendency, as Microsoft can afford all of Yahoo and it should if it wants to make the boldest case possible that it will compete with Google.

As for Yahoo, both Yang and President Sue Decker are to be lauded for showing up to answer Walt’s questions (and one by me via remote video about leadership, which neither actually did answer) about the company and its future.

Their sincerity and love of Yahoo and its products and people was clear and even touching, making it clear that companies are a true reflection of its leaders.

But, while making good points about the he-said-she-said nature of the past Microsoft talks, the pair still could not adequately and passionately explain what Yahoo is exactly, which everyone I spoke to in the halls was surprised and even disappointed by.

Moreover, their weariness for the next phase of tumult that will come if Yahoo remains independent was apparent in both their body language and low energy levels, especially when compared to others onstage like Murdoch, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and, of course, the frenetic Ballmer.

Yang and Decker need big-time help and they need it now, help that cannot come from their own dwindling energies and that of their much-beleaguered troops.

Still, they also deserve credit for this very funny spoof video of advice they have been getting.

I especially like the turn by famed investor Warren Buffett best, with his “buy low, sell high” tip.

But I would fiddle with that to change it a little bit for Yahoo today: Just sell high enough.

Here’s the Yahoo spoof video:

The annual gathering of tech and media luminaries was created and is run by my partner Walt Mossberg and me.

D6 tech and media speakers include: Microsoft Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer of Microsoft (MSFT); News Corp.’s (NWS) Rupert Murdoch; Jeff Bewkes of Time Warner (TWX); Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook; Michael Dell of Dell Computer (DELL); IAC’s (IACI) Barry Diller; Amazon’s (AMZN) Jeff Bezos; Howard Stringer of Sony (SNE); and TiVo’s (TIVO) Tom Rogers.

Also: Tom Glocer of Thomson Reuters (TRI); Melinda Gates of the Gates Foundation; FCC Chairman Kevin Martin; Lowell McAdam of Verizon Wireless (VZ); Activision’s (ATVI) Robert Kotick; and former Microsoft tech guru Nathan Myhrvold of Intellectual Ventures.

Just recently, we added Jerry Yang, CEO and co-founder of Yahoo (YHOO), and now he is being joined onstage at the conference by Yahoo President Sue Decker (pictured here in a lovely Wall Street Journal dot-drawing).

The pairing should make for a lively session, given all the heat around Yahoo of late, largely related to the scuttled attempt by Microsoft to buy the company.

What would you like to know about that and anything else about Yahoo?

As it so happens, you can ask!

While the conference is sold out, you can submit questions that you would like answered to Yang and Decker or any of the speakers via text or video. Walt and I will pick the best ones and let loose.

Ask early and often here!

In addition, the whole conference will be online at AllThingsD during the conference, via live blogs and reports of breaking news (and there will be breaking news, as there always is), along with video highlights.

And videos of all the interviews will be posted soon after it is over.

Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer of Microsoft (MSFT). News Corp.’s (NWS) Rupert Murdoch. Jeff Bewkes of Time Warner (TWX). Yahoo’s (YHOO) Jerry Yang.

All of them engaged in roiling Internet deal-making of late and all of them in just three weeks on the same stage–but not, thankfully, at the same time, or we’d need a professional negotiator–at the 6th D: All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, Calif.

The annual gathering of tech and media luminaries was created and is run by my amazing partner Walt Mossberg and me (see us here at D5) and will take place May 27 to 29.

The conference, as we describe it on our Web site, is “unlike any other executive conference.” What we mean by that is that we try to determine the next direction of the digital revolution via unscripted and informal, but pointed, conversations about the impact of digital technology with industry leaders.

In other words, Walt and I needling at the major players of the digital sector, until they give up the good stuff.

The other digital and media leaders coming? That would be: Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook; Michael Dell of Dell Computer (DELL); IAC’s (IACI) Barry Diller; Amazon’s (AMZN) Jeff Bezos; Howard Stringer of Sony (SNE); and TiVo’s (TIVO) Tom Rogers.

Also: Tom Glocer of Thomson Reuters (TRI); Melinda Gates of the Gates Foundation; FCC Chairman Kevin Martin; Lowell McAdam of Verizon Wireless (VZ); Activision’s (ATVI) Robert Kotick; and former Microsoft tech guru and Nathan Myhrvold of Intellectual Ventures.

To say our timing is impeccably planned would be undeserved–we had no idea so much news related to all these companies and their leaders would break out, from the tough economy to takeover battles to court face-offs to mergers to trying to create a whole new way of reading.

Also, there will be some–as yet under wraps–amazing demos onstage too.

While the analog conference has been sold out for many months, the action will be on the AllThingsD.com site throughout the conference with round-the-clock live blogging by Digital Daily’s John Paczkowski, as well as video highlights from stage.

In addition, we’ll be pointing all over the Web to important tech and media news that breaks at D6.

And we will also stream the entire conference in the weeks after the conference takes place, so ATD’s audience can experience the whole thing, even if they cannot all attend.

But anyone’s questions can be there, though–this year, you can submit questions to any of the speakers via text or video that you would like answered. Walt and I will pick the best ones and let loose. Ask early and often here!

Walt and I are very excited for D6, even after last year, when we brought together industry legends Bill Gates and Apple’s Steve Jobs, for an historic joint interview.

At the time, Walt and I joked that we would not be able to top that amazing event (the video of the entire interview is below).

That interview was nearly unbeatable, but we also think that with the top-level interviewees we have assembled for D6, that it is game on.

Until then, here’s the Gates/Jobs video from D5:

But, as it has turned out, TiVo has been on a bit of a tear lately for a has-been, with a series of new partnerships and innovations that have created a stir around the long-struggling company.

So, BoomTown thought it was time for a video check-in with CEO Tom Rogers, which took place yesterday near TiVo’s Alviso, Calif., HQ:

Of course, a stir is exactly the thing the very concept of time-shifting of television caused when TiVo was created in the first Internet growth spurt in the late 1990s.

With its powerful premise, the company was seen as a danger to network television with its fast-forwarding ability that threatened the watching of commercials.

It was an image TiVo even relished, including once releasing television commercials where network executives got defenestrated.

But this kind of chin-leading behavior–coupled with the difficulty of being a standalone DVR company and having to sell its boxes commercially–proved a daunting challenge for TiVo, which struggled at making a dent in the consumer market, despite a name that soon became a verb.

But more recently, under former televison exec Rogers’ leadership, TiVo has been slowly marching forward by striking a series of deals strengthening Web, photo and music-serving capabilities of its service, licensing of its software to cable giants and offering important audience behavioral data to once-hostile television networks.

His goal for the new TiVo? To be a content and data hub of the television-watching experience in whatever way it can.

Also a plus: TiVo has recently won a potentially lucrative patent lawsuit over the use of its technology.

As a result, its losses are down and its stock is up to yearly highs of late.

What’s next is anybody’s guess, but it will surely be must-see (on our own schedule, of course) TV.

Why? Um, it’s still a minefield out there for the dogged companies trying to do so (i.e., everyone), even though there is a huge boom–billions and billions served and more to come–in watching such fare on the computer.

Wingfield lists five key problems: Too many boxes; too complicated (we can relate); high prices; not enough content; and basic slowness of downloads and streaming.

Here’s a video about the issues:

Today, the folks from Hillcrest Labs visited me at my home to show off their latest version of what they call an “operating system for the television,” which they had first shown off as a demo at the D3 in May 2005. The Rockville, Md.-based company is one of many trying to reinvent the television navigation experience, complete with a remote control that is a round, motion-controlled device called the “Loop,” pictured here (and you can also see the pictures and video of the Hillcrest demo at D3 here).

Their visually based navigation system, which swoops in and out like a helicopter, is an attempt to free the consumer from the onerous and frustrating grid system that has used up too many minutes of consumers’ life. The centerpiece is obviously the Loop, which is moved about in the air somewhat like a mouse on a desktop and with only a few buttons and scroll wheel. It is certainly a welcome change from other remotes, most of which require you to have a degree in astrophysics to understand properly. I will be interviewing Hillcrest CEO Dan Simpkins again with others at a panel at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association’s annual show next Monday afternoon in Las Vegas, called “Everything I Need to Know I Learned from the iPod: Defining the Consumer Experience.”

There and in this column, I will be particularly focused on the ongoing issue of making television more interactive. It has been a minor obsession of mine, since I sat in on the pitch meeting the founders of TiVo did before venture capitalists back in 1997. At the time, after a day of sitting through a series of inane dot-com ideas, I was thrilled when this groundbreaking concept of control of the television experience was offered, even if TiVo’s business success has not been as profound.

That feels like an eon and a lot of false starts ago (oh, I had and then didn’t have WebTV). But, perhaps because consumers are finally comfortable watching video on the Web, it seems like the idea of truly incorporating these ideas may have finally come. TiVo has recently unveiled cool new abilities to put personal and Web videos on the television, big players like Apple and Microsoft are deep into the game with major offerings (after years of efforts) and small outfits like Slingbox (which allows you to “sling” content to a myriad of devices) are gaining traction. And, of course, despite the problems with its straps coming undone and minor mayhem following, consumer enthusiasm for the Nintendo Wii system is part of the same trend.

“This is about consumer choice and simplicity,” said Hillcrest’s Simpkins to me today. As it always has been.

So I was more interested in the Washington Post’s follow-up of NBC’s controversial decision to air the self-made video of the Virginia Tech gunman in an interview with NBC News President Steve Capus. Written by media reporter Howard Kurtz, it gives a lot of background of Capus’s career and, of course, hashes over the reasoning for putting on TV the rantings of an obviously disturbed killer, for which NBC was assailed from all sides. “I’m stunned that people bang down our door at one moment,” he told Kurtz, “demanding we release it uninterrupted and without filter–then question whether it should have been released in the first place…I’m just stunned at the depths of absurdity and hypocrisy.” Welcome to the new digital world, Mr. Capus. In fact, there was likely not even a decision to be made for the longtime television pro–in the age of YouTube, that video was going up no matter what.

The New York Times brought tears of joy to my eyes with the news that Sony Television will soon be airing something called “minisodes” on a new Web service called, wait for it, the Minisode Network (log-in required). The shows will distill old shows like “Charlie’s Angels,” “T. J. Hooker” and “Starsky and Hutch” to three- to five-minute clips, which somehow seems perfect given their hokey formulaic perfection. The mini-shows will be offered exclusively on MySpace at first, which is about the most perfect audience for dumbed-down dumb shows.

Speaking of short and sweet, Om Malik’s got a great mini-essay on why Hollywood needs to embrace the plethora of video-downloading services springing up on the Internet–its DVD business is waning. But it might not go so well for the studios in the end, writes Malik quite correctly: “Imagine if you could rent a movie, decide you don’t like it that much, and decide to forego the DVD purchase. Now that would be an oh-s— moment!”

And there are plenty of those kind of moments in the short, rough and oddly compelling mini-movies that Rosie O’Donnell has been posting recently on her unusual blog. Once a lot of text haiku-like ruminations of the controversial television personality, the movies bring you up close and personal with O’Donnell, who sometimes is half out of the frame getting her hair done as she answers reader mail while using only her iSight camera. “It’s working, it’s working,” she says as she taps on the keys of the computer. Indeed, it does work and makes me wonder if O’Donnell really needs any TV network (except, of course, for that big bag of money they offer).

Please see this disclosure related to me and Google.