The ad-friendly strategy unveiled late last year by TiVo (SHOOT, 11/26/04, p. 1) is now starting to be implemented and built upon. Back in March, the Aliviso-headquartered TiVo released the first in a series of advertising features–fast-forward “tagging”–to a random, relatively small number of subscribers.
Via tagging, when viewers fast-forward past an ad, an embedded graphic pops up on screen to notify them of the commercial. If the pop-up tag is of interest to a prospective consumer, he or she can request to see more and to access additional information.
Tagging is among a series of planned features that could potentially generate information for advertisers, helping them to gauge consumer interest. This interactivity is a prime component in TiVo’s recently struck distribution deal with Comcast. Per that agreement, TiVo service will be made widely available to Comcast customers in most of the cable company’s U.S. markets. Additionally, TiVo and Comcast plan to team on the development of a version of the TiVo service for Comcast’s existing digital recording platform. TiVo intends to devise software that will be incorporated into Comcast’s current primary platform.
The relationship between Comcast and TiVo figures to yield other attractive ad-related options. For example, as the two companies mesh their capabilities, a greater number of consumers will be able to find, view and store spots for products and services in which they have an interest. These selected ads will help empower prospective consumers to seek out additional information as they formulate buying decisions. Furthermore customers could potentially purchase these goods and services through electronic transactions.
TV viewers may also start to find that commercials of relevance to them are becoming more readily available. As earlier reported (SHOOT, 4/22, p. 1), Comcast maintains a partnership with Visible World, a New York-based addressable ad technology company. Visible World’s addressable technology–delivering customized spots to targeted neighborhoods–can currently reach 26 of the markets, encompassing 25 million-plus households, in the Comcast network.