I've been sitting on this tidbit for sometime, and I thought I'd release it now. My point all along has been that Tivo ('s original implementation) is obvious technology, technology that, if widely accepted, will destroy the U.S. system of broadcasting. In a talk with a high-ranking engineer at one of the U.S. broadcast networks a month or more ago, I was told that the latest thing he was working on was "Tivo Triggers." While the networks are less than happy about the implications of Tivo, advertisers seem to have no such reticence. This particular network (perhaps others) have noted that advertisers are now transmitting advertising scheduling and replacement information to Tivo units, using commercial availabilities (at least on that network.) How are they doing it? EIA-608 data. This brings up several pertinent questions. Are these triggers included in what the advertiser gets from the network? This largely depends on the actual advertising contract. Most contracts limit the ad to audio, video and associated captioning information for the 885 or so frames in a "30 second" spot. At the network that employs the engineer, they are of a mind that Tivo triggers are not covered by their advertising contracts. Indeed, it sounds like a revenue source to me. However, it is probably something that advertisers are not willing to pay extra for. So, they'll lose the ability to transmit EIA-608 data outside of captions. John Willkie ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.