• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, February 19, 2009

TiVo, which has recently tried to persuade Madison Avenue that it hopes to work with agencies rather than merely market a technology that could render their messages moot, has added well-respected media buyer Bill Cella to its board.

The congenial former head of Interpublic's Magna Global group joins Discovery CEO David Zaslav and Univision CEO Joe Uva on the nine-member board. A year ago, Cella joined the board of Hallmark Channel parent Crown Media.

Cella left Magna at the end of 2007. Before his tenure there, he was a top executive at Universal McCann, working with clients such as J&J and Coca-Cola. Last year, he launched The Cella Group--a multi-service company that advises a range of clients, from broadband programmer Next New Networks to the Tennis Channel. Cella also brought a partner into the firm, Bruce Mello, who has both a digital and traditional media background.

TiVo CEO Tom Rogers said Cella's "stature in the advertising industry is unique and his input and insights related to our advertising and audience-research businesses will be particularly valuable."

While TiVo will remain best-known as the marketer of ad-skipping DVRs, it has made efforts to expand its business, offering advertisers opportunities to reach the rabid commercial zappers in its user base through interactive advertising and other tactics. Plus, it has moved onto Nielsen's turf by selling advertisers and others data-tracking viewing on a second-by-second basis.