Word: pvr
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Whichever box wins, advertisers are hatching ways to fight rampant ad zapping. One solution: make spots more entertaining, as research shows that even PVR users are likely to watch a commercial they find amusing. Advertisers aim to exploit data about which shows and spots viewers are skipping and which they're watching (since the technology can track one's TV habits), and they plan to use that knowledge to send ads, infomercials and special deals targeted to a household's income and interests. TiVo has sent its subscribers promos from Lexus and Best Buy, and this month they will...
With the possible exception of the electric nose- and ear-hair clippers, there is no device in my gadget-heavy house more consistently and surprisingly good at its job than the TiVo box. As you really should know by now, TiVo is the personal video recorder (PVR) that learns the kind of shows you like, saves them on its internal hard drive, zips through commercials and pauses live...
...Especially not when Replay TV, based up the road in Mountain View, just signed a deal with Motorola to install its PVR in up to five million cable boxes. Talk about leapfrogging. TiVo is feeling the heat: it just laid off 23% of its staff and said it would not be seeking extra funding this year...
...biggest problem is marketing - or as the TiVo folks put it, "education." It seems those of us who have spent the last 20 years figuring out how to program the VCR clock are terrified by the idea of switching to a PVR and all the extra technological challenges that sounds like it might entail. In truth, nothing could be easier than navigating TiVo's menus. All you really need to know how to use are the buttons market up, down, left, right and select. But computers have gotten such a bad rap with the technophobic, as slowing PC sales suggest...
...What the TiVoistas are secretly hoping is that Microsoft's recent entry into their turf will indirectly aid them. Redmond has the deep pockets to spend on ads that explain how a PVR works - ones much more direct and widely broadcast than TiVo's too-clever-by-half "male itch" ads. But Ultimate TV is still in its buggy and relatively featureless infancy; as with all Microsoft products, it's best to wait for version 2.0. So if the ads feed a need but discerning consumers try out both systems when they actually get to the store, TiVo wins. Right...