TiVo from AdZapper to Advertiser's New Best Friend

Thomas Hawk writes "A lot of noise has been made lately regarding TiVo's transformation from an ad zapper to Madison Avenue's new darling. In their first podcast ever, TiVo explains how they hope to redefine advertising in the age of the DVR through a customer centered approach. I'm not sure you are going to see TiVo changing their slogan to "we'll leave a light on for you," anytime soon, but with DVR penetration hitting mainstream how will their new initiatives change your TV viewing experience?"

RTFA much?

[Chicken04GTO]

All you weepers and gnashers of teeth slamming TIVO didn't even read the article, which is normal for slashdot I suppose.
I cant remember the last time I watched a commerical. *everything* I watch is recorded, so I can skip ads. If I am channel surfing, and find something I want to watch thats not on one of the movie channels, I record it, and watch it later, so I can skip commercials.

As long as my Tivo allows me to skip commericals, I will use it. When the day comes when I have to watch commercials, that will be the day I get rid of it.

The article was NOT about getting rid of skipping commercials...

Re:If they start forcing me to watch commercials..

[doctrbl]

I really wish this one detail was in the summary: Tivo is not talking about forcing you to watch commercials. They are talking about targeted opt-in advertising FROM THE TIVO MENU. So you have to specifically go there to watch them, they will not just pop in during your TV stream.

From the article:

'"The consumer is in charge and we need to respect that," said Kent. "Our consumer satisfaction rate is very high and if you respect that and remember that they're the ones who decide, not the networks, not the advertiser and not us, TiVo, then they actually will interact with your advertising on their own time."

What I really like about Kent's statement is that it emphasizes TiVo's use of opt in advertising. If you don't want to interact with the ads, you don't have too. It's up to the advertisers to give you a reason to be there.'

Re:does tivo matter to adverts?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, spoilers are the big concern, but there's also the problem of simul-broadcasting.

For example, this season: I loved the show LOST last season, so I decided to Season Pass it (9:00 PM Wed, ABC). I loved Mandy Patinkin in The Princess Bride and Dead Like Me, so I decided to Season Pass Criminal Minds (9:00 PM Wed, CBS). I loved the show Veronica Mars last season, so I Season Pass'd it as well; 9:00 PM Wed, UPN.

TiVo does (did) not make any dual-tuner systems compatible with Cable. (The DirecTiVo was dual-tuner though); even if they did, I needed to be able to record something else too. So I got a ComCast DVR. The interface sucks, and it's buggier (I hate pressing fast forward 3-4 times to hit the 32x speed and then having it not stop when I hit PLAY!).

Then, of course, FOX moved Bones the Wed at 9 PM. Fortunately, that only lasted a few weeks.