TiVo Issues Challenge To Advertisers

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Looking to push its interactive TV business, TiVo is issuing advertisers a challenge: Trade-in one traditional 30-second TV spot for 30 days of interactive TV exposure on TiVo.

Calling it the "TiVo Challenge," the digital video recorder maker/ service wants advertisers to take the money from a 30-second spot and use it for an interactive media plan on TiVo.

Pitching this as a counter to the negative effects of DVR users fast-forwarding commercials, the company says it will evaluate clients' current media plans to "identify the most avoided spot" using its Stop||Watch ratings service.

"Our interactive ad solutions are designed to grab viewers in homes where time-shifted viewing is the primary way TV is watched," stated Tara Maitra, vice president and general manager, Content Services and Ad Sales, TiVo. "TiVo's advertising units catch the attention of viewers while they are engaged, not solely during commercial breaks, and work to enhance the value of television spots."

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TiVo has around 3 million subscribers who use their DVR service.

The company says its advertising solutions can counter the effects of DVR fast-forwarding by offering ad messaging in the pause menu, as well as billboards in fast-forward mode and interactive tags during TV commercials.

1 comment about "TiVo Issues Challenge To Advertisers".
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  1. Douglas Ferguson from College of Charleston, October 11, 2010 at 9:37 a.m.

    It's unfortunate to link ad performance to skipping. Quality does not matter that much. Some of us still skip all the ads, regardless of their quality. What happens to a terrific ad the follows a mundane ad? Not much, by virtue of its position in the pod. Even the best ads gets skipped when the viewer is trying to wedge a hour-long primetime show into the 40-minute window before rushing off to work in the morning. Also, I really doubt a billboard link is going to entice us Tivo-users into clicking-through to an ad. Thanks to Tivo, we have been conditioned to skip all ads (and even if there's occasionally one viral ad that has everyone buzzing, we can always catch it on YouTube). Sorry, the days of ad interruptions are waning, thanks to 40 percent DVR penetration.

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