The ad-friendly strategy unveiled late last year by TiVo (SHOOT, 11/26/04, p. 1) is now starting to be implemented. Over this past weekend, 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 more information.
The initiative is a far cry from the commercial-skipping capability that made TiVo famous, if not infamous, in some circles of the advertising community. The new feature enables clients to still have a chance of reaching consumers even when they fast-forward past commercials.
Tagging is among a series of planned features that could potentially generate information for advertisers, helping them to gauge consumer interest. This interactivity was part of TiVo’s recently struck distribution deal with Comcast. TiVo’s stock rose upon last month’s announcement of that arrangement whereby 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.
