Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Is TiVo selling out their ad-free functionality?

Sure looks like it...

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For advertisers it's an extraordinary boon, a quicker and more effective way than they've ever had of measuring the effects of their TV commercials.

For viewers, TiVo's new strategy means the technology famously christened "God's machine" by Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) Chairman Michael K. Powell is rapidly becoming a marketer's best friend, proving that try as they might, consumers cannot hide from marketing.

"TiVo looked like it was going to be the weapon of mass destruction of Madison Avenue," says Robert Thompson, Syracuse University professor of television and pop culture. "However, we knew that the [TV] spot ad would not go gently into the night, and this is the next battle strategy."

The shift underscores what industry observers have been saying since TiVo started — that TV advertising and programming must change dramatically to survive.

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TiVo Will No Longer Skip Past Advertisers

Yeah, I was pretty ticked, but I'd rather they stay in business. For a variety of reasons...

It occurs to me that this doesn't prevent me from watching an hour long prgram in 40 minutes; how many ads can they cram into the 5 seconds it takes to fast forward through a 3 minutes of commercials?

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Yeah, I was pretty ticked, but I'd rather they stay in business.

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Totally agree, kcarlile.

I don't have TiVo yet, but I'm glad you can still "blow through" the ads in short order.

I would rather them stay in business.

I do not care about the advertising as much as I do the convenience the device provides.

Exactly right. There's no way I'd watch all the TV I have it record!