TiVo also sold space on its main menu to advertisers as a venue for commercials that ran longer than the usual 30- or 60-second spots. And the company developed "tagging" technology as a way for networks to advertise TV shows by embedding a green thumbs-up sign in the corner of the screen during a show's promo, reminding the viewer to record it. Advertisers saw tagging as an opportunity and jumped at it.
Advertisement
TiVo Will No Longer Skip Past Advertisers
The tool that lets viewers control the TV will soon sport 'billboards' and track viewing habits.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday November 19, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 53 words Type of Material: Correction
TiVo cost -- An article Wednesday in Section A about increased advertising on TiVo paraphrased Davina Kent, TiVo's advertising and research sales manager, as saying that increased advertising revenue probably will bring down the subscription price to consumers. Kent said the cost of advertising itself would go down, not the cost of subscriptions.
Advertisement
By 2002, TiVo was selling "tag" time to Lexus and Best Buy. The thumbs-up icons appeared during live commercials, inviting the viewer to "click here" for a chance to enter a contest, receive a DVD or brochure or watch a glossy, long-form commercial.
Over time, General Motors, Nissan Motor Co., Coca-Cola Co., Walt Disney World and Royal Caribbean International cruise line paid their way into the program. And all the while, TiVo recorded viewer response.
The tags proved so lucrative for TiVo, and so popular with viewers, that the Alviso, Calif.-based company expanded their capabilities significantly. They created "billboards," more robust tags that are larger and promote greater brand awareness with logos and text.
Until now, the new technology has been relatively subtle and not widely seen; by spring, it will be hard for TiVo users to miss. (The technology is part of the software provided to all TiVo users.)
"The message we really want to get across," says Davina Kent, TiVo's advertising and research sales manager, "is that we now have a dedicated road map for advertising."
There are TiVo users who say that as long as the new technology doesn't interfere with their ability to fast-forward through a commercial, they're happy to ignore it. It's the timesaving apparatus they say they cherish most.
"To be able to see things when I want to see them is the real advantage," says L.A. radio promotion executive Jennifer Sperandeo.
Other TiVo users say they hope the new partnerships prove lucrative enough to keep the company afloat. Five years after its launch, TiVo still hasn't turned a profit and doesn't expect to until January 2006. (Kent says the advertising revenue will probably bring down the cost of TiVo to its 2 million subscribers -- currently $12.95 a month.)
And in the year since Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. took control of satellite operator DirecTV Group Inc., TiVo's largest source of customers, the future of that relationship has grown increasingly uncertain.
