TiVo to show ads......

Lord Brar · #1 11-20-2004, 02:16 AM

TiVo's slogan said it all: "TV your way." but not anymore! By March, TiVo viewers will see "billboards," or small logos, popping up over TV commercials as they fast-forward through them, offering contest entries, giveaways or links to other ads.

While it may be a god news for advertisers, but is it a good business strategy to take away from your customers what they love the most?

stymiee · #2 11-20-2004, 11:37 AM

My wife desparately wants a Tivo. I keep delaying hoping she'll give up on it. The whole privacy thing gets to me.

But on topic this seems like an excellent case of hook and bait. Let's get them hooked on what they think the product should be, then let's go and change that on them. Tivo has a lot of competition out there now and more on the way. They better be sure to make their customers happy because brand loyalty is a thing of the past.

Wayne Luke · #3 11-20-2004, 10:56 PM

This will be interesting since Tivo doesn't control the transmission of the shows. It would have to be static advertising downloaded on a regular basis. So if you simply cancel your Tivo subscription, which won't impair the device much, then you can avoid this.

Wonder how it will effect their distribution agreements with cable and satellite companies.

Also what viable competitors does Tivo have? ReplayTV isn't going so strong these days.

nathan · #4 11-21-2004, 12:15 AM

What's a tivo?

Lord Brar · #5 11-21-2004, 12:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nathan

What's a tivo?

TiVo lets you digitally record your television programs and then you can fast forward the advertisements.

BTW there was this blog entry at FastCompany NOW where the blogger pointed out the following clarifications that the TiVO PR guy gave him :

Quote:

TiVo will be serving up advertisements.

The advertisements will appear on recorded programs when you fast forward through commercials.

Advertisements will take the form of "small tags."

These tags will appear for about four seconds, or however long it takes to fast forward the commercial.

Users will be able to click the ad to learn more about the product or service.

Once they've clicked through, users can opt in and pass on their contact info.

nathan · #6 11-21-2004, 12:29 AM

Excuse my ignorance here but isn't that what a video or DVD recorder does? Records TV programs then you just fast forward past the ads?

I have a DVD player / recorder than also has a hard disk in it so I can record up to 36 hours straight of TV programs.

Lord Brar · #7 11-21-2004, 12:38 AM

From the official TiVo Site : What is TiVo?

Quote:

Just choose a smart TiVo box and activate the genius TiVo service for just $12.95/mo. to start getting all of the entertainment you care about. TiVo works with any TV setup to automatically find and digitally record up to 140 hours of the programming you want--every episode of your favorite series, every Coppola movie, home improvement shows, Dora cartoons, whatever you choose--all while you're out living life. Plus, pause, rewind and slo-mo live TV. Home media features like digital music, photos and TiVo Online Scheduling also included.

Only TiVo service offers easy-to-use features like WishList? searches and Season Pass? recordings, plus much more

TiVo Online Scheduling, plus Home Media features like Digital Music & Photos included

Works with everything: cable, digital cable, satellite, antenna, and combinations

It's easy to get started, just choose a TiVo box, and put this amazing service to work for just $12.95T a month

nathan · #8 11-21-2004, 04:42 AM

So it scans multiple channels to find the show's you're interested in?
Australia has 4 channels so soemthing like that wouldn't work too well

Wayne Luke · #9 11-21-2004, 04:14 PM

It not only scans channels but you can say that you want to record every episode of a particular show on such and such a channel but don't know what time it is on. Tivo will record it for you automatically. The TIVO devices also let you pause and rewind live TV as everything goes through the hard drive before it hits the screen. If you hook your Tivo up to your home network, you can stream music, video and photos from your computers to the television as well.

The one I have is from my satellite provider. It allows me to record two programs and watch a third at the same time. Does require multiple connections to the satellite dish but that wasn't a big deal since they installed it. All of our favorite programs are scheduled into it and we never have to worry about missing them. In fact, it makes for good television on the weekends when we have down time. However, since I have the premium package on my satellite, there are well over 200 channels. We have even used our Tivo to record the music channels and then replay them when people are visiting. And since it is part of my premium DirecTV package, I don't have to pay anything for the Tivo features. Been thinking of upgrading mine with dual 200 GB drives to get over 300 hours of storage.

nathan · #10 11-21-2004, 06:35 PM

Wow. Impressive.