Tivo CEO says stepping up marketing partnerships

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 7 (Reuters) - TiVo Inc (TIVO.O) plans to establish more marketing relationships with entertainment producers and retailers such as Best Buy Co Inc (BBY.N) in the current quarter and first-quarter, chief executive officer Tom Rogers said on Wednesday.

"What we've done, and you'll see more of this over the course of the first-quarter, is engaged in third-party marketing relationships, be it with a Best Buy, which is our primary retailer, (and) content owners," said Rogers to analysts at a Citigroup conference.

He said the company is interested in forming relationships with companies "with substantial interest in marketing TiVo" to boost its marketing strategy during a "difficult" marketing environment.

"We have some interesting developments on (the marketing) front that will play out over the next quarter that I think (will) make that strategy clear," Rogers said.

TiVo has experienced its fair share of struggles in 2008 as the company announced job cuts of 7 percent of its work force in November and Best Buy, the company's major retail partner, issued a grim outlook about holiday sales.

(Reporting by Jennifer Martinez; Editing by Bernard Orr)