[opendtv] TiVo to add banner ads to service when fast forwarding
- From: "Kon Wilms" <kon@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 11:43:31 -0500
This is the end of the joyride. I am now re-building my Linux Freevo box
and will be getting rid of my DirecTivo. I was more than likely Tivo
user #<100 and I've upgraded through most of their models, giving my old
boxes to family members. I don't personally expect them to last long if
this goes through -- the staunch supporters of Tivo will instantly rally
against them for pulling this bait-and-switch stunt.
In related news some of my STB developer buddies at old companies I used
to work at tell me that popup ad banners are planned for in other DVR
boxes. Everyone is gearing up it would seem to change these 'tv your
way' boxes into 'advertising our way' revenue streams. No thanks!
Cheers
Kon
--
http://www.pvrblog.com/pvr/2004/11/tivo_to_add_ban.html
So here it is, the story I hinted at earlier (which went to press a
night early): TiVo Is No Longer Skipping Past Advertisers.
Coming soon to the standalone TiVo OS: when you hit fast forward to skip
past commercials, small banner ads will show up on your screen. You'll
be able to click them to get more info, see an informercial, or send
your home address details to get more info about a product mailed to you.
I think this is a dark day for TiVo, and this new feature is aimed at
pleasing TV Networks and advertisers. I doubt a single customer would
ever ask for this kind of feature, and that it happens while you skip
commercials just drives the point home. TiVo is no longer TV your way,
it's TV their way.
People get TiVos for different reasons, mostly it's for the time
shifting nature, but the close second most loved feature has to be the
ability to fast forward through ads. The advertising TiVo has added so
far has been minimal impact. The commercial showcases that show up on
your main menu aren't that bad and often have good ad shorts and
information, but pushing that into the main TV watching interface seems
like a spectacularly bad move. No longer are the ads an optional thing
you can dig for more, they're soon going to be pushed in front of you
when you use a key feature of the product.
Now, I haven't seen any actual demos of it in action, and this comment
from earlier today claims to be from a TiVo employee and says it'll be
tasteful and unobtrusive, but I have a feeling this is a bad precident
and it'll get uglier as companies pay more for the primo space.
Also on the horizon: plans to enable purchases via your remote (fine by
me, if you're really interested, why not make it easy to buy), and
someday letting networks and ad agencies mine the data on tivo use,
which I also think is a fine idea if it means better shows and better
advertising. But overall, I'm not happy to hear the fast forward button
was sold to advertisers today. That was the killer feature for so many,
and to see it changed to force ads on customers isn't going to make
those customers happy.
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