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Wednesday, December 10, 2008

TiVo Will Still Show Premium Comercials

TiVo debuts ads during fast-forward and pause
By Tim Conneally, BetaNews
December 9, 2008, 12:41 PM

With the TiVo Pause Menu that launched today, even if a user is fast-forwarding through the traditional ad breaks on a time-shifted program, he will still be subject to "premium" ads designed to appear in the truncated space.

The new system, announced this morning, would enable ads to be served during fast-forward or pause states.

"With the number of DVR homes on the rise, TV advertisers are facing a very serious commercial avoidance issue that must be addressed now," said Vice President of Marketing and Product Management David Sanford. TiVo has been searching for the elusive synergy between sponsor and viewer, where it gives one as many opportunities to advertise as it gives the other opportunities to skip advertisements.

TiVo has been stealing headlines on a weekly basis as it approaches the end of what could be its first profitable year thanks to the lawsuit settlement from EchoStar. The DVR company's unique capabilities for targeted advertising play no small role in its recent progress either.

When broadband-connected TiVo users pause a live or time-shifted broadcast, the new "Pause Menu" comes up, which not only displays Adwords-style text ads, but also allows users to perform TiVo Swivel Searches for program info, related shows, and downloads.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yea, we need to sell people more stuff they really do not need.

Anonymous said...

But isn't that one of the reasons why people spend the $ for TiVo to get away from comm. ????

Anonymous said...

Have you ever wondered how many people even pay attention to the ads?
Do you EVER pay any attention to an ad on the internet on some web page? I don't.
Why do companies pay GOOGLE to advertise? I wouldn't even trust an ad on the internet!

Anonymous said...

Do you think it is just a coincidence that TV makers can't make a TV that lowers or mutes the volume on commercials which are intentionally louder than the regualr programming.

Oh, they can make them clearer with humongous screens, though.....

We already paid for cable/satellite and still get commercials. Free Tv I can understand the commercials.