• ClickZ , Tuesday, May 16, 2006 10:18 AM

The TV upfront, underway this week, is now joined by competing initiatives from heavily trafficked Web publishers like CNN, Yahoo and Heavy.com. TiVo, which makes digital video recorders that operate over a broadband connection, has now forged an upfront arrangement of its own with Interpublic Media, one of the world's largest agency holding companies. The multi-million dollar deal gives Interpublic preferred pricing and ad opportunities for its massive client base that includes the likes of Sony, Intel, Johnson & Johnson and Microsoft. But what does that mean? The article is unclear, and the Interpublic executives quoted were short on details. David Cohen, executive vice president and media director for Univeral McCann, one of Interpublic's biggest agencies, said "TiVo's broadband and commerce capabilities" are possible campaign components. Some time ago, TiVo mentioned that it would create a searchable database of TV ads and related promotions for its users. Perhaps the deal has something to do with that, or maybe TiVo is getting into the ad network business?

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