Tivo Sells Out - TV Their Way?

It looks like TiVo has come a long way from the tagline "TV your way." It looks like we are going back to TV their way if advertisers have any say in it. Dr. Vex at blogbook.org blogged that TiVo has sold out to advertising agencies by adding a new feature to the TiVo interface which will prevent ad skipping (See the LA Times Article for the full story). Ad skipping was a much hyped feature of the TiVo when it first came out as it would enable users to watch programs without the long interruptions of commercials. This process would work similarly to fast forwarding with a VCR where you could just skip past commercials. The new “feature” will eliminate this process almost entirely, however.

The new feature will not let you simply skip ads but as Dr. Vex writes, “instead of a single forward jump, you get to have your commercials overlaid with…wait for it…commercials. But they’re TiVo commercials. Sooooo much better.” Why TiVo thinks that using other commercials will appease users makes very little sense at all. People often use TiVo to skip commercials, not to get new ones.

The TiVo commercials will be popups that allow users to enter contests, receive giveaways, or link to other ads. Further, you personal information will be sold to advertising agencies. TiVo looks to get everything it can out of this move, but the increased profits from selling your information and preventing fast forwarding may be overcome by decreased sales and use. Davina Kent, TiVo’s advertising and sales research manager, says that TiVo wants to send a message that it has a “dedicated roadmap for advertising.” Dr. Vex puts it perfectly when he says, “it’s completely unclear [] unclear whether they have a dedicated roadmap for customer satisfaction.

The time shifting feature of TiVos is often the most sought after feature, but ad skipping has to be a close second. TiVo has been struggling in the market as is, why take away one of the most intriguing features of their product? It is likely in response to legislation that will make it illegal to skip commercials and therefore TiVo is getting a jump on the game now by giving users an alternate to regular commercials. This whole concept seems a bit ridiculous in light of the history of recording. There was never a restriction put on VCRs that prevented users from fast forwarding past commercials, so why now?

Obviously the advent of the TiVo and other recording devices makes recording much easier than the conventional VCR and also delivers far better quality so users are more likely to implement the DVR feature. Further, most cable and satellite providers are providing users with a DVR receiver, making the DVR feature even more widespread. It seems TiVo might actually be smart in jumping ahead of the game and giving users an alternative to not being able to do anything with commercials, however, I have my doubts that users will stand for this very long. As I said earlier, users were never restricted from fast forwarding past commercials with a VCR or with the first DVR devices. I highly doubt users will give up this feature so quickly.

It seems very likely that users will resort to “hacked” or alternate receiver devices such as MythTV which will not only allow users to skip commercials, but as other people have posted, users will be able to take the recorded media and transfer it to different media or devices. Either the legislation won’t last or the devices will out maneuver the restrictions. Where there is a will there is a way and will of DVR users is to not watch commercials.

Comments

[Aaron Hand]

I wonder if competition can change this. Back when I initially purchased a ReplayTV, the main menu would show advertisements; likewise, if I paused the unit and left it for a few seconds, an ad would display on the screen until I started playback again. ReplayTV removed the ads because of user complaints, and because TiVo didn't "pollute" the interface with ads.

But ReplayTV caved recently too... it used to have an auto skip feature that blasted through commercials automatically... but that feature was pulled from its most recent lineup.

Perhaps it's time for a new competitor to enter the DVR lineup? With the cost of computer components falling, and the availability of software that allows similar features as ReplayTV and TiVo (without subscription charges, mind you), it would be fairly simple and inexpensive to build a standalone computer that would provide more features at a smaller cost.

[Tommy O'Reardon]

I posted this question at Freedom to Tinker, but doesnt anyone think that this will raise a copyright infringement accusation? Current proposals (HR2391, the new "IP Protection Act") seek to criminalize fast-forwarding through ads (which is obviously ludicrous), so shouldnt TiVo get a clue and not place their banner ads over the paid commercial advertisements?

I'm not saying that the newest proposal even stands a chance at getting passed in both houses, but this banner ad scheme seems like a pretty good case for copyright infringement.

[James]

I wrote a letter to my senator opposing HR 2391, and in the process came across this site for faxing your representative:

http://www.publicknowledge.org/action/IPPA2391

[Hunter Walker]

This whole thing is lame.
My advice? Save your money and get a Media Center equipped PC. No subscription fees (yet) and you don't have to succumb to these pushed out "features" You have to be a little more technically "inclined" to set it up though. We Gen-X'ers won't have a problem with it.

[Chad]

Nooooo, say it ain't so. I dred the day that this happens. I know that it is probably needed from the companies stand point and I guess I will not get rid of my TiVo yet. I will weigh my options once it does start and I will have to make a decision on which way I will go in the DVR war.

[Alexander Wehr]

""""This whole thing is lame.
My advice? Save your money and get a Media Center equipped PC. No subscription fees (yet) and you don't have to succumb to these pushed out "features" You have to be a little more technically "inclined" to set it up though. We Gen-X'ers won't have a problem with it.""""

Nope.. you'll instead have winblows palladium uber-DRM to be concerned with.

HBO recently implemented this on their tv feeds, and now everyone with media center pc's are no longer capable of recording hbo to removable media.

but hey.. isnt that a great new feature? who wants those dvd's cluttering your house eh?

Well, thanks to the cable plug&play agreements you can count on a lot more "features" like that one as hollywood's now mandated cable DRM gives it leverage to regulate all consumer tech.

[Hunter Walker]

Very true, but at least with Windows someone can potentially release a "patch" that circumvents DRM...not really ever an option with TiVo. Also, I shouldn't have just mentioned Media Center PC. There are other programs you can run on a winXP box that do the same thing as Media Center PC. Snapstream is one that comes to mind. You're hits home though as the average user isn't going to make this much effort.