TiVo (TIVO) Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call Transcript

TiVo (TIVO)
Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call
Feb. 26, 2019 5:00 p.m. ET

Contents:

• Prepared Remarks
• Questions and Answers
• Call Participants
  
  See all our earnings call transcripts.

Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Good afternoon. My name is Rob, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to the TiVo corporation 2018 fourth-quarter and year-end results conference call. [Operator instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to Nicole Noutsios, TiVo investor relations.

Nicole Noutsios -- Investor Relations

I'm Nicole Noutsios, investor relations at TiVo. With me today are Raghu Rau, interim CEO; and Peter Halt, CFO. We just distributed a press release and filed an 8-K detailing our fourth-quarter and full-year 2018 financial results. In addition, we posted a downloadable model on our IR site showing our historical financial results and GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations.

After this call, you will be able to access a recording of this call on our website at tivo.com, as well as a transcript of the company's prepared remarks. Our discussion includes forward-looking statements about TiVo's future business, licensing, product, estimated annual run-rate savings and growth strategies. We caution you not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as they involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to vary materially from these forward-looking statements as described in our risk factors in our reports filed with the SEC. Any forward-looking looking statements made on this call reflect our analysis as of today.

We have no plans or duty to update them except as required by law. With that, I will now turn the call over to our interim CEO, Raghu Rau.

Raghu Rau -- Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Nicole, and thank you all for joining us for our fourth-quarter earnings conference call. We continue to make progress with our strategic review process and are still in ongoing discussions with parties interested in each of our product and IP licensing businesses. As we said last quarter, this process is taking longer than we hoped due to the unique nature of our product and IP licensing businesses. To that end, we have proactively begun working internally on preparing for the possible separation of the businesses to help address some of those complexities and to potentially facilitate strategic transactions.

The board and management team continue to be thoughtful about the outcome that can best unlock shareholder value for TiVo. While we work on the strategic review process, in tandem we continue to remain focused on driving growth and improving our two businesses. We have recently launched our five pillars growth with profitability transformation strategy. This plan has been announced internally and embraced by employees as we look to transform our business.

I would like to share with you the five pillars plan. First, we will launch the most advanced new content discovery solution for the Internet age. This product will combine our expertise in pay TV and OTT to build a unique, integrated entertainment discovery platform for the streaming era. This product will be designed to allow customers to build their own entertainment or streaming content bundle and truly personalize their experience.

Capabilities include: enabling our customers to transition to Internet or streamed video delivery, powering natural language voice interactions, enabling personalized content discovery, monetizing audiences through sponsored promotions and delivering media engagement data to enable targeted advertising solutions. Central to the experience are streaming channels that bring made-for-digital content movies and a variety of Internet video streams together in a single location. It will be easy to access across content platforms, and content discovery will be seamless, offering an entertainment experience that is highly personalized for viewers. It also provides viewers the ability to access ad-supported free programming, à la carte purchases and subscription collections of their favorite Internet-based content.

Our customers will also have access to categories like news, sports and entertainment, as well as Internet favorites from well-known content aggregators. This experience will allow both our service provider customers and our retail customers access to all this content directly from TiVo Experience 4. Second, we will monetize TiVo footprint through a focus on promotion and advertising. We view monetizing our discovery footprint via transactional revenue as a great opportunity for us.

We can do this using anonymized data to power personalized experiences through sponsored discovery, content merchandising, UX display promotions, DVR playback advertising, promotion windows and targeted monetization opportunities around pure play IP content on our forthcoming guide for the streaming era. Third, we will invest in Internet-delivered TV and the Android platform. We believe the cost associated with deploying QAM-based TV services have ended deployment of next-generation services. We are launching an IPTV solution on the Android platform to take advantage of our TiVo Experience 4 IPTV solution to address this growing ecosystem.

This will significantly lower our customer's deployment costs and should, as a result, accelerate our growth. Fourth, we will grow our consumer business and footprint. As a company with a subscription model now developing a transactional model, a direct-to-consumer footprint becomes even more valuable. As such, we are looking to leverage our focus on IPTV and the Android platform to grow our consumer footprint.

On that front, we intend to give consumers a low-cost entry point to a world of rich content discovery across all their video entertainment sources and expand the transactional monetization opportunity. First, we will continue to build on our strong foundation of the IP licensing business. The company has an extraordinary catalog of foundational IP across the TV and video domain. We are investing to grow and expand our portfolio and licensing business in new markets, both geographic and technology related.

Another growth opportunity for TiVo beyond traditional video providers is the expanding interest in TV and video provided by mobile, OTT and social app providers. In summary, our transformation strategy will provide us a significantly enhanced footprint, content and monetization opportunities. Underpinning the five pillars of growth with profitability plan is a continued focus on cost efficiencies, retiring technical debt and executing flawlessly. We have a strong track record of driving cost efficiencies while balancing investment for future growth.

As I mentioned on last quarter's call, we exceeded a goal for cost reductions in 2018. In 2019, we will continue to benefit from these actions, and we will also continue to focus on additional cost efficiencies. I look forward to speaking to progress on that front on future earnings calls. With that overview on our growth strategy, I will now turn to our two businesses.

I will start with our product business. We now have 55 customers signed up to deploy TiVo User Experience 4 and 50 customers who have begun deploying this guide. Among those deploying TiVo User Experience 4 are Mediacom, RCN, Cogeco, Atlantic Broadband and Service Electric. We will also have two major IPTV solution deployments in the first half of 2019.

We anticipate having an IPTV solution will help drive both conversions and new household deployments for our next-generation discovery experience. In September, we launched the TiVo BOLT OTA, a premium 4K, ultra high definition-capable set top box designed to work with a high definition antenna. Consumers now have an advanced discovery option available to them regardless of whether they subscribe to a linear pay television service. Following the announcement last quarter of the deployment of a personalized advertising product Sponsored Discovery, we launched our first advertiser campaign in Q4 with a major broadcaster for the promotion of one of the fall TV show launches.

We were very successful. And for viewers that saw the ad, it led to a 142% increase in tune in rate to the new show. Additionally, Verizon extended a multi-year agreement to have access to the latest version of TiVo's personalized content discovery platform, conversation search and recommendation services across set top boxes, websites and popular streaming devices, bringing forth a more personal entertainment Experience 4 its customers. In terms of voice enabled discovery, our natural language understanding entertainment discovery solutions continues its impressive traction.

In Q4, TiVo's unique voice users grew 54% from 2.4 million at the end of Q3 to 3.7 million unique users at the end of Q4. Additionally, quarterly queries grew by 93% from 123 million queries in Q3 to 238 million queries in Q4. We are pleased with the continued progress we are making in extending our discovery technology leadership. On the intellectual property licensing front, we continue to make progress in terms of innovations and customers.

On the innovation front, we had 193 patents granted in 2018, a company record. This validates our continuing thought leadership in the video space. In terms of customers, we continued to demonstrate the relevancy of our industry-leading patent portfolio as Samsung renewed its multi-year patent license agreement for the global use of Rovi's video discovery patents and technologies across Samsung's smartphone and tablet devices. Additionally, Minerva Networks renewed its multi-year IP license in the quarter.

In terms of our ongoing Comcast litigation, as we've highlighted before, nine of the top 10 pay TV service providers in the U.S. license a vast portfolio of intellectual property for its use, except Comcast, which let its license lapse at the end of Q1 2016. In 2017, the International Trade Commission or ITC ruled that Comcast infringed two of Rovi's remote record patents. Comcast chose to no longer make those popular remote recording capabilities available to their X1 subscribers rather than obtain a market rate license.

We pursued a second case in the ITC, which went to trial in October 2018 on three additional patents covering different popular features innovated by Rovi. Due to the government shutdown, the initial results of the second ITC case are now expected in late Q2 or early in Q3, and the final results are expected sometime in Q4. In addition, we have a number of district court cases filed in New York, Massachusetts and California. We expect the case related to the 034 patent to become active later this year.

We also filed a new district court case in California in January relating to Comcast infringing eight Rovi cloud and network DVR patterns. These district court cases are where Comcast would incur significant monetary damages if we prevail. While the ITC and district court cases are ongoing, Comcast continues to pursue patent challenges in the form of inter partes review or IPR with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board or PTAB. While we have had mixed results at the PTAB thus far, TiVo has appealed many of the adverse determinations of the IPRs related to the lawsuits we filed in 2016.

Notably, since November 13, 2018, the PTAB rules have changed to make the PTAB process more equitable to inventors like Rovi. TiVo is fully committed to protecting its intellectual property from unauthorized use, and we expect Comcast will ultimately pay a license for our innovations just as its pay TV peer companies do and as Comcast itself has done in the past. In summary, I want to thank our employees, customers and investors for their continuing support. As we move forward on a path to unlock value for our shareholders, we remain focused on driving long-term profitable growth while maintaining a cost-efficient structure.

With that, I would like to turn the call over to Peter who will provide a financial overview.

Peter Halt -- Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, Raghu. Before I get into a detailed discussion of our results, I want to remind you that our results in 2018 are being reported in accordance with ASC 606. As discussed on our last three earnings calls, we adopted the amended revenue and cost recognition guidance on January 1st 2018 using the modified retrospective transition approach. As a result, our financial results for 2017 are reported under the prior standard, and our results for 2018 are reported under the new standard.

While there is no change in either the nature of our business operations or our cash flows, revenue recognition in 2018 is considerably different than in 2017. On a consolidated basis, fourth quarter revenues were $168.5 million, and our core business generated $161 million. Core revenue was $800,000 less under ASC 606 in Q4 than it would have been under the prior revenue recognition standard. In Q4, our non-core revenues were $7.5 million as hardware sales were $3.8 million and sales of other products, primarily our legacy analog ACP product, were $3.7 million.

We no longer have revenue from the legacy TiVo Time Warp deals in Q4. And as previously discussed, we are also transitioning away from selling hardware and analog products. For the full-year 2018, non-core revenues included $20.1 million of legacy TiVo Time Warp IP revenues, $14.7 million of hardware revenue and $8.7 million of other product revenue, primarily our legacy analog ACP business. As a result, non-core revenues were down $100.6 million dollars versus the prior year.

As we have stated in the past, these are areas where we anticipate minimal to no contribution in fiscal 2019. Excluding these known declining revenue streams, our core business generated $652.4 million in revenue in 2018, down $30 million year on year. Core revenues in 2018 included $23.2 million of catch up revenues, largely related to agreements with parties who were previously out of license, which is $23.8 million less than in the prior year. The prior year benefited from including a license to legacy TiVo IP and several renewal agreements with legacy Rovi licensees.

The decline in non-core revenues, the drop off in catch up revenues and our having a single large CE manufacturer out of license for the entire year drove the $130.6-million decrease in revenues year on year. Included in our 2018 core revenues are $30.1 million related to an international MSO customer exercising a contractual option to purchase a fully paid license to its current version of the TiVo software, with $23.5 million recognized in Q1. Under the prior revenue recognition standard, this would have been recognized over time. In terms of GAAP costs and the results for Q4, GAAP total operating costs of $441.9 million in Q4 were up $230.7 million, or 109% from last year.

Total operating costs increased primarily as a result of a non-cash $269 million goodwill impairment charge for our product reporting unit. Total operating costs, excluding the goodwill impairment charge, were down $38.3 million due to lower amortization of intangible assets, the company's continuing cost-reduction efforts and a reduction in hardware COGS as a result of the planned transition of our MSO partners and retail customers to deploying the TiVo service on third-party hardware. The product reporting unit goodwill impairment charge is a function of an impairment analysis triggered by the fall and the trading price of our stock and a reduction in expectations for our product business from our prior long-range internal plan. We lowered our expectations for the company's platform solutions products in part due to changes in both the market and business models internationally, as well as the decision to eliminate certain underperforming analytics products.

The changes in internal expectations related to revenue growth rates, current market trends, business mix, cost structure and other expectations about anticipated short and long-term operating results. In addition to the goodwill impairment charge, Q4 GAAP operating cost included $33.1 million of depreciation and amortization, $11.6 million dollars in stock-based compensation, and $2 million of other costs primarily related to our ongoing restructuring actions that are excluded from our calculation of adjusted EBITDA. GAAP operating loss in Q4 was $273.5 million, and our GAAP net loss before taxes from continuing operations was $287.4 million, reflecting the $269-million goodwill impairment charge related to the product reporting unit. In terms of our non-GAAP results, non-GAAP total COGS and operating expenses were $126.3 million, down $13.4 million or 9.6% year over year.

This quarter's non-GAAP total COGS and operating expenses, like last quarter's, benefited from reduced hardware costs due to the planned transition of our MSO partners and retail customers to deploying the TiVo service on third-party hardware, along with our ongoing cost-reduction efforts. Adjusted EBITDA in Q4 was $42.1 million, and non-GAAP pre-tax income was $30.2 million, down $32.4 million and $30.2 million year over year. The decrease in adjusted EBITDA in Q4 reflects the decline in revenue, partially offset by benefits from the aforementioned shift to deploying the TiVo service on third-party hardware and our cost-savings initiatives. For the full year, adjusted EBITDA was $200.1 million, and non-GAAP pre-tax income was $146.9 million, down $90.1 million and $87.9 million year over year.

The decrease in adjusted EBITDA for the year reflects the $130.5-million decline in revenue discussed earlier and an $11.3-million increase in IP litigation cost, primarily related to the ongoing Comcast litigation. This was partially offset by the benefits from shifting our customers to deploying the TiVo service on third-party hardware and our cost-savings initiatives. For the quarter, estimated cash taxes were approximately $3.5 million. GAAP diluted weighted average shares outstanding were 123.8 million, and non-GAAP diluted weighted average shares outstanding were 124.3 million.

For those interested in calculating our non-GAAP EPS, take our non-GAAP pre-tax income, subtract our cash taxes and divide by non-GAAP weighted average shares outstanding. Turning to segment results. In Q4, core product revenues were $89 million, down 3% year on year. The revenue decline was primarily due to a $2.2-million decrease in revenue from classic guides and a $1.3-million decrease in revenue due to the adoption of ASC 606.

This was partially offset by an increase in revenue from TiVo MSO customers. We exited Q4 with approximately $75 million in contracted quarterly product run rate revenues, excluding ACP, NRE, advertising and hardware revenues. Product adjusted operating expenses were $83.4 million in Q4, down 14% from last year. A $5.6-million decrease in hardware COGS plus our ongoing operational efficiencies drove this decrease.

Moving on to the IP licensing business, IP licensing revenues of $72 million in Q4 no longer include any Time Warp revenues. As a reminder, the last of the Time Warp revenue agreements expired in July. In comparison, we recognized $25.8 million of Time Warp revenues in Q4 last year. In terms of core IP licensing revenues, we were down 18% year on year, largely due to a $12.3-million decrease in revenue from catch up payments intended to make us whole for the prelicense period of use.

IP licensing revenue is also going to be negatively impacted by a CE manufacturer being out of license. We anticipate this customer will eventually execute a new license. We exited Q4 with approximately $65 million in contracted quarterly IP licensing run rate revenues, excluding catch up revenues intended to make us whole for the prelicense period of use. IP licensing adjusted operating expenses of $25.7 million in Q4 we're down 7% from last year.

This is attributable to benefits from cost savings initiatives as year-on-year IP litigation expenses were flat for Q4. For the full year, litigation expenses were up $11.3 million, and we don't anticipate a decline in 2019 as long as we still are in litigation with Comcast. We have a very strong balance sheet with cash and investments at the end of the quarter of $394.1 million. In terms of debt, in Q1 we'll make a required payment of $46.7 million on our term loan.

We also have $1 billion in federal NOLs and a remaining stock repurchase program authorization of $150 million. Finally, our board once again declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, which is to be paid on March 26th to shareholders of record on March 12th. With that, I will now turn the call over to the operator to open the line for questions. Operator? 

Questions and Answers:

Operator

Certainly. [Operator instructions] And your first question comes from the line of Eric Wold from B. Riley. Your line is open.

Eric Wold -- B. Riley FBR, Inc. -- Analyst

Thank you and good afternoon. A few questions, I guess one just to get the number out there. I guess if I calculate the non-GAAP [Inaudible] EPS, I get to $0.21 cents for the quarter. Is that correct?

Peter Halt -- Chief Financial Officer

That would be the correct calculation, Eric.

Eric Wold -- B. Riley FBR, Inc. -- Analyst

OK. Thanks, Peter. I guess a couple larger questions, I guess high-level questions I guess. I'm trying to understand how we balance the continuous strategic review process that may sell one or both of the divisions and the growth pillars that you laid out, the five growth pillars you laid out for growth heading into '19, which I would suspect if someone was to acquire one or both of those businesses, those growth pillars would be somewhat meaningless.

I'm just trying to understand the balance between those two and why pursue such a dramatic five-pillar process if you think you're close to a strategic outcome.

Raghu Rau -- Chief Executive Officer

Thanks, Eric. You know, one of the things that the strategic review process has informed us is the growth strategy that we outlined and which we introduced to the employees in the last, following the last quarter results. Essentially, what we're doing here, and it's really important, is that we're focusing both the product business and the IP business for growth and profitability. And as we have outlined, there are going to be two major launches in the product business unit this year.

And on the IP side, we're planning to go into new markets, new geographies, new technologies. And irrespective of the outcome of the strategic process, this growth with profitability strategy is important for the two businesses.

Eric Wold -- B. Riley FBR, Inc. -- Analyst

OK. And then, Peter, I know you're not giving guidance for the year. You laid out the current contractual [Inaudible] run rate revenues for the product business and the IP business on the core side. Not looking for dollars or even percentage growth numbers, maybe kind of -- magnitude may not even be the right word but maybe just give a sense of where the growth will come from this year from those bases.

Obviously we know the IP side, Comcast may or may not be a major part of that. But excluding that, what has the biggest opportunity for growth from those base level this year? And maybe kind of what is a possible range up from those levels [Inaudible] see no meaningful growth, mid-single digit growth? Maybe just some sense of what we could see from those [Inaudible] levels.

Peter Halt -- Chief Financial Officer

Yeah, Eric, I don't mind talking to you about where growth can occur. Clearly, we're not guiding given those strategic process, so I can't give you any order of magnitude. On the intellectual property front, it was kind of lined out by Raghu and his talking about the fifth pillar. Our focus continues to be on both international and then OTT and content providers.

We think those are both great opportunities for us. And we've been talking about some progress in that area, we'll be very focused on continuing to progress in that area in 2019. On the product side, having an IPTV solution in the market later this year, we think, is going to be an accelerator both for deployments of TiVo Experience 4 as a replacement for the classic guides. But also, equally as important, when you think about the first couple pillars that Raghu outlined and a transactional model, having people on TiVo Experience 4 that are currently on an earlier version of TiVo, is critical.

So there is an area for growth, and then we continue to enjoy growth, and you've seen the metrics or you've heard the metrics on this call and prior metrics around voice, and we think that's an exciting product also for us to be expanding with other customers. Raghu, is there anything you'd like to add?

Raghu Rau -- Chief Executive Officer

No, I think you've covered the most important stuff.

Eric Wold -- B. Riley FBR, Inc. -- Analyst

So just lastly then, I guess excluding a Comcast outcome, would you expect core revenues and/or even [Inaudible] grow in '19 versus '18?

Peter Halt -- Chief Financial Officer

We're not guiding for '19. I apologize I can't answer that question.

Eric Wold -- B. Riley FBR, Inc. -- Analyst

Fair enough. Thanks, Peter.

Operator

And your next question comes from the line of Hamed Khorsand from BWS Financial. Your line is open.

Hamed Khorsand -- BWS Financial -- Analyst

Hi. So the first question I had was why go through the separation? I mean, you guys went through a merger between Rovi and TiVo. Why aren't you just following that strategic strategy of what that merger was supposed to mean because that's -- you incurred debt for this deal, now you're walking away from it essentially. That's what it sounds like when you're separating the businesses.

Raghu Rau -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah, that's really not accurate, Hamed. TiVo had a strong licensing portfolio, as well as a strong product business. We've very successfully integrated the licensing portfolio that TiVo had to the portfolio that Rovi had, and we've now expanded our portfolio and our licensing prospective customers with both portfolios and enhancing our revenues on the IP front. On the product side, the TiVo business has given us significant product advantages, including in the IPTV area and the consumer footprint that we are talking about in terms of the new Experience 4 that we're rolling out.

And also, this new content network and discovery solution that we have is based on the Experience 4 platform and enables us to provide a rich content network, very unique discovery experience and with multiple end points for advertising. So that has benefited us in a way. The separation that we're talking about is the product and the IP. It's not really the Rovi and TiVo.

Hamed Khorsand -- BWS Financial -- Analyst

OK. And then the other question I had was, is what you're going through as far as the subscriptions transactional, is this incremental? Or do you think that you will face some customer headwinds as far as revenue is concerned?

Raghu Rau -- Chief Executive Officer

No, this is totally incremental because we're going to be offering it into our retail footprint, as well as to our service provider customers. And so it will be incremental to what we're doing. It's completely in addition to the Experience 4 revenues that we get from our existing customers.

Hamed Khorsand -- BWS Financial -- Analyst

OK, and then, Peter, just as far as the cash flow is concerned in 2018, there was a big chunk coming in from the accounts receivables. Does that go away in 2019? Is there a possibility 2019 cash flows actually, or cash flow from operations goes up in 2019? Or was this just an anomaly from accounts receivables in '18?

Peter Halt -- Chief Financial Officer

Hamed, again, I'm limited to what I can say for the upcoming year. But we would anticipate and we attempt to, through our non-GAAP reporting, to provide you an EBITDA measure that approximates cash flow.

Hamed Khorsand -- BWS Financial -- Analyst

Yeah, but you're not giving guidance so I'm really asking about what your cash flow looks like, right? I'm trying to figure out if that $51 million that you got was one-time, or can you actually grow from here?

Peter Halt -- Chief Financial Officer

We would anticipate our cash flows in '19 to be relatively consistent with the revenues that we'll have in '19. Hopefully that helps.

Hamed Khorsand -- BWS Financial -- Analyst

Not really, but all right. OK, thank you.

Operator

And your next question comes from the line of Sterling Auty from J.P. Morgan. Your line is open.

Sterling Auty -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

Yes, thanks. Hi guys. Couple of questions. So with the ongoing process in terms of the strategic review, we've had a couple of quarters now where you've kind of talked about where the updates are going.

Just wondering, is there a line in the sand that you'll draw in terms of we're no longer going to explore possible transactions, etc.? So is there a timeframe that investors should have in mind? Or as long as there's the potential, you'll just continue to work toward that?

Raghu Rau -- Chief Executive Officer

Right. So we do agree that this process has taken longer than we had hoped, particularly because of the complexity and uniqueness of our two businesses. We're hoping that we'll give you another update the next quarter based on the ongoing discussions that we're having. But beyond that, I'm not willing to put a time limit on when this will happen because the interest of the board and the management is to ensure that we get the best outcome for the shareholders, and that's what this whole review process has been focused on.

Sterling Auty -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

Sure, sure. No, that's fair. And I apologize, I am jumping back and forth between calls. So reading through the release and part of the call that I did catch, are you actually taking actions? Are you actually separating the businesses? Or is it just preliminary, putting together preliminary plans on how you would separate the business? Because what I'm really curious about is is there some cost that you're going to incur here in the next couple of quarters to actually start to separate the businesses?

Raghu Rau -- Chief Executive Officer

Yes, we haven't announced the separation of the two businesses. What we have said is that we are proactively working internally on the various logistic issues that would need to be addressed in the event the two businesses are separated. For instance, if we get a transaction that creates shareholder value, that's something we might obviously consider. Some examples of the preparatory work include preparation of historical financials, audits and understanding tax implications.

There will be some costs involved here, but not very significantly. But I'll have Peter address that.

Peter Halt -- Chief Financial Officer

I think that's a fair comment, Raghu. And to the extent that we have cost in that area, we'll try to single those out for folks.

Sterling Auty -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

All right, that's great. And then last one in terms of that tax item, the substantial NOLs that you have, is there a clear -- so if you separate the two businesses, is there a clear mandate on where those NOLs would go? Or is there some flexibility on how you would manage those NOLs?

Peter Halt -- Chief Financial Officer

We can't get into the particulars of any of the deal structures we're talking about. I apologize for that.

Sterling Auty -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

No, not talking about potential deal structures, but if you actually start down the path of actually separating the businesses prior to any transactions, is there -- again, is there an attachment of those NOLs to particular assets within the business?

Peter Halt -- Chief Financial Officer

The NOL is predominantly associated with the parent company, however the deal is structured around that or if there is a deal.

Sterling Auty -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

Excellent. Thank you, I really appreciate it guys.

Operator

And your next question comes from the line of Eric Wold from B. Riley. Your line is open.

Eric Wold -- B. Riley FBR, Inc. -- Analyst

Thanks. Let me jump in here for a follow up question. I guess is there a way for you to frame kind of what part of the strategic review process has taken so long? Is the delay on your side in terms of the preparation you need to do, the proactive things you need you to address the potential separation of the businesses and that nothing can be done till you finish what you need to do on your end, or is the delay more on the other party side in terms of come to evaluation that's amenable to both sides, they need to think about their integration, there's things they need to do on their side, whether it's financing, something else in that part? Maybe give us a sense of what is causing the delay. And then two, just lastly, are there multiple other parties still involved in these discussions or is it down to one?

Peter Halt -- Chief Financial Officer

So, Eric, let me answer in two parts in terms of the timing because I think it's important also to talk about some history. Do recall when we first announced we were going into the strategic alternatives process, we talked about running a very robust process that looked about all possible alternative outcomes that would drive shareholder value. That included looking at transformative acquisition to add scale. It looked at what kind of areas are business running in and where we were investing internally and whether that made sense.

And it included looking at possibilities of selling the company. As we updated a couple of quarters into the process, we had ruled out a transformative acquisition at that point in time and believed we were investing in the right areas in terms of business. So I think one of the differences in this process from other companies' processes is strategic alternatives is often a euphemism for being for sale, and we were going through and looking at many, many different alternatives to ensure that we maximize the value for our shareholders. And this has made the process seem long.

We had hoped to be, as Raghu said, be talking about where we were going by now. That said, we're a complex company in terms of where our assets are and how the company is structured, so there are things that parties, as Raghu mentioned, plural, have to understand about us in order to be able to come to a process that could lead potentially to the accumulation of a deal. So I'd say that complexity rests on our shoulders, and we're doing all we can to try and address that.

Eric Wold -- B. Riley FBR, Inc. -- Analyst

Perfect. Thanks, Peter.

Operator

And this brings us to the end of our Q&A session. I would now like to turn the call back over to our Interim CEO Raghu Rau for closing remarks.

Raghu Rau -- Chief Executive Officer

OK. Thank you very much all of you on the call, and thank you for your support of TiVo. Thank you.

Operator

[Operator signoff]

Duration: 40 minutes

Call Participants:

Nicole Noutsios -- Investor Relations

Raghu Rau -- Chief Executive Officer

Peter Halt -- Chief Financial Officer

Eric Wold -- B. Riley FBR, Inc. -- Analyst

Hamed Khorsand -- BWS Financial -- Analyst

Sterling Auty -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

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