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Tivo Plans Commercials On Demand
Posted by
CowboyNeal
on Thu Mar 25, 2004 12:11 AM
from the click-here-to-watch-more dept.
from the click-here-to-watch-more dept.
MCSqrd writes "News.com reports that Tivo will soon feature interactive ads that apparently link from ordinary television commercials. Viewers can activate the link and view extended, interactive content about the product being advertised.
Tivo hopes to 'tune in' to a way to keep advertisers on their side since the idea of TV commercials being made obsolete because of PVRs has made them an enemy to marketing departments everywhere.
Is anyone else reminded of the blipverts from the Max Headroom series?"
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Might be news to you, but it was always there. (Score:5, Informative)
The way it works is that the sponsors purchase a TiVo Showcase package, which is an advertising section that has always been part of TiVo. The Showcases can be filled with video content that is spliced out of the "Teleworld Infomercial"... a quasi-weekly program that TiVo purchases during the early morning hours on the Discovery Channel that all TiVos are programmed to return.
The sponsors then purchase a typical campaign's worth standard 30-second TV spots, and they encode in the VBI (the same place where Closed Captioning hides) a signals that all TiVos understand. This signal tells the TiVo that whenever this spot is encountered, to display a "Press Thumbs Up For More Information" icon while it is playing. If the user gives the confirming thumbs up signal on their remote, they're transported directly to the Showcase section for that sponsor. Whenever the user chooses to leave the Showcase, they'll be returned to exactly where they were in whatever program they were viewing.
You might be surprised to know that TiVo is recording this Teleworld Infomercial program, because it's never directly displayed in the user interface. You also might think that TiVo is kidnapping some of your diskspace... but in fact they're saving the ad content to the "reserved section" of TiVo's funky Linux-based OS. You never had access to that disk volume, and they already subtracted this space from the advertised hour-wise capacity of a unit. If you upgrade your TiVo's HD size, all of the additional space created goes to user recordings, the reserved space stays the same size.
Gotta give TiVo credit, they're finding a revenue model that actually issues a challenge to advertisers... come up with some ad content that makes people want to watch it.
More competition = more features (Score:5, Insightful)
The only way around this is for Tivo to go court the little guys, and thus force the incumbents to follow their lead, or lose ad dollars. I imagine the advertisers are curious to try this feature - the only question is, will they get the chance?
Another revenue source that Tivo really ought to be persuing is movies-on-demand. They should try streaming data in much the same way Disney's Moviebeam does, only over broadband connections (for those who have it.) Thus, for the marginal cost of a "premium" subscription, users can also order the latest movies. I don't think that many people would end up keeping this movie-on-demand service, but it'd be a great lure for people to sign up for Tivo service in general, and for them to keep the basic scheduling service.
Parent
Re:More competition = more features (Score:5, Interesting)
It's much easier for TiVo to broadcast content than to stream it over the Internet... just like how they push the Showcases out over a late-night infomerical on the Discovery Channel.
Parent
The networks still loose (Score:3, Insightful)
Then the advertiser can get away with running short 'teaser' ads at primetime to entice users to either go to the web or their tivo to find out what it's all about.
The simple answer is that adverts need to get better. Some people, myself included, are far more interested in the ads than the superbowl - that's proof enough that if advertisers try hard enough then they can make ads worth watching.
I
Nissan Did This (Score:5, Interesting)
Now that's a powerful car commercial.
Parent
Re:Nissan Did This (Score:5, Insightful)
1 - Brand Recognition: Just putting that Nike Swoosh on the screen reminds me who Nike is, why I should buy their product, and brings to mind decades of advertising and social conditioning.
2 - Rational Argument: Our product costs less, our product does X. Statments of fact leading a consumer to choose one product over another. Informing the customer about the product. These are key, particulary for large purchases.
3 - Irrational Argument: Warm "feel good" images cause people to associate a product with an emotion or set of desired circumstances. You see this most in prepackaged food ads. Note the family sitting down to dinner together, note the wholsome looking meal, everyone smiling, etc. The families these ads are targed at genrealy don't have the time for this, and frequently mom and dad desire it.
4 - Coolness Factor: Product endorsements fit in here. This is particularly influential over children. Be like Mike anyone?
5 - Social Impact: The most powerfull advertising weapon of all and the hardest to tame. The creation of a commericial that gets people talking about the commercial means that people must necessary talk about the product. The honda element commercial? The Salmon commercial (with the bear that does kung foo... don't remember the name). The Cat Hearders commercial. Pepsi through the Generations Commercial. If people remember and can discuss your ads years later you've had a lasting impact on them.
So the Nissan 350Z managed to hit the Social Impact meter pretty hard. How many hundreds of thousands who've never seen that add just read your comment? I for one didn't even realize that Nissan made a high end sports car, now I know not only that they do, I know the name of it, and I know there's probably video of it out on the net of it zipping about Prague. Now I haven't a red cent to buy the blasted thing with, but now its in my head, and that's the point of advertising.
Parent
Re:Might be news to you, but it was always there. (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re:Might be news to you, but it was always there. (Score:4, Interesting)
Too bad... maybe Tivos will continue to evolve and they will become the set to interative box we have always read about... able to get all the movie times, buy tickets, order chineese food.. whatever. Maybe when everyone has broadband...
Parent
Re:Might be news to you, but it was always there. (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:Might be news to you, but it was always there. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Might be news to you, but it was always there. (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:Might be news to you, but it was always there. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Might be news to you, but it was always there. (Score:4, Insightful)
now all you have to do is get the custom commercials down to the machine.
Parent
Hey, we've got those on the web (Score:3, Insightful)
The system doesn't work.
Re:Hey, we've got those on the web (Score:5, Informative)
Are you saying that banner ads don't work? (Or are you referring to TiVo? Not sure I understand the phrasing of your sentence here. If I misread your point I'm sorry.)
Banner ads do work. That's why Slashdot's still here. If people are genuinely interested in the product being advertised, they go click the link. What doesn't work is that you can only get so much from them. Putting a Tampax banner on Slashdot isn't going to generate a lot of hits. Putting a ThinkGeek banner on Slashdot, however, generates a lot of views from interested people.
There are ways to make advertising work on the web. The first step, however, is not to get your hopes up high about how many people will come. The second is to target your audience. The third is to make your banner provide information that they're interested in. A whoopdeedoo flashy banner won't work as well as saying "This item is cool, here's why."
So could the TiVo think work? Potentially, yes. Start small. The R2D2 toy comes to mind. Show an ad for that during Enterprise. How many people watching that show would click the button? How many of those are genuinely interesting advertising hits? Think about it.
Parent
Commercials? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Commercials? (Score:5, Informative)
So it's not fair to say that nobody watches comercials with a TiVo... it's just that the ad sponsors have to come up with comercials people will want to watch when given the ability to "gong" them off the stage with a fast forward button.
Parent
Nudity and Sex (Score:4, Funny)
Helen: "I'm so apalled, have you seen the latest Alexortus advertisement?"
Nancy: "Yes, simply shocking, watch this part, wait I'll slow-mo it, you can see yis penis!"
And they'll replay it til its worn out...and I'll leave it to the readers imagination what transpired in the meantime.
-cp-
President Bush to Liberate Alaska [alaska-freegold.com]
Parent
obligatory Bill Hicks quote (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Commercials? (Score:3, Funny)
To Advertisers: WHAT A CONCEPT!
Re:Commercials? (Score:3, Informative)
Tivo needs ads like google. (Score:3, Interesting)
Googled has proven that targeted ads work, why not try it in Tivo.
This is no blipvert... (Score:5, Informative)
No, because this is the inverse of a blipvert. A blipvert was a split-second commerical inserted into Network XXIII programs, which had the unfortunate side effect of causing overweight viewers to explode.
This feature actually requires user input (a confirming click of the green Thumbs Up key during the conventional 30-second ad) in order to jump to a 3-minute presentation that has been stored on the TiVo harddrive. The user can bail out of the 3-minute presentation at any time and return to their "live" stream whenever they want. TiVo will do the favor of pausing the program at exactly the point they left it, where the user can fast-forward to catch up as much as they want.
More like.... (Score:4, Funny)
"Would you like to learn more?"
Parent
OK ... Tivo officially doesn't get it. (Score:2, Funny)
First my Tivo thinks I'm gay because of that one Queer Eye episode I watched, now this!
Re:OK ... Tivo officially doesn't get it. (Score:3, Interesting)
Wouldn't it be nice if TiVO could download informaiton on cars, and then you could have it display that information at your leasure?
I think TiVo could make a go at that, and it still has enough degrees of seperation that the marketing people can continue to think commercials work as well as they think they do.
Data sink (Score:2, Interesting)
They have already done this. (Score:4, Interesting)
There are other types of commercials too... for instance right now there are a couple of previews for Dawn of the Dead. They are just extending this out to more non-entertainment products too. You don't have to watch them if you don't want to.
not bad (Score:5, Insightful)
I have a feeling... (Score:3, Funny)
I think it is a good idea (Score:5, Interesting)
Instead of 30 second commercials you fast forward through, all the commercials were on your Tivo as well. and tivo only recorded commercials for products that you liked (tivo commercial suggestions). That way, you don't HAVE to watch a commercial to watch a show... but Tivo makes money (and stays in business) so that I can continue to get their service while not getting commericals.... I like this a LOT
And if Tivo can make a little money from the Ad firms without impacting my viewing habits , then so be it.
The only problem I might have with it is if my Tivo had the wrong idea of what I liked and didn't like. What a horrible time I might have if my Tivo recorded only ads for feminine hygiene products....
Sea Change a-Coming (Score:5, Insightful)
The reason this shared model works in those other mediums is simple: people will not volunteer to read ads in any meaningful way. Ads in a "volunteer" model are only viewed by people already interested in or involved with the subject. Ads currently also serve the far broader and more valuable (to advertisers anyway) function of exposing poeple to "new" things. in life, as in target marketing, the things we covet the most are often the most elusive. A lot of the people who will want to see an ad for some boring car are probably people who already bought one and are reveling in post-purchase reinforcement behavior. The guy who likes his current boring car breezes past the ad.
Soon, when you are watching that Seinfeld re-run on your wide screen HiDef TV, you'll see that the content is really the same size and there's an advertising sidebar touting Craftsman (TM) Tools or Noxema or whatever.
Currently, it appears that the loose boundry is at network self-promos ("watch such and such on Friday" stuff in the lower third), but some day soon, we'll see a little animated Lexus cruise across the bottom of the screen during "The Apprentice." Look at the Discovery Channel now--they're champing at the bit for this.
Re:Sea Change a-Coming (Score:5, Interesting)
It used to be the Sugar Bowl. Now it's the Nokia Sugar Bowl. Was the Fiesta Bowl. Now it's the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Don't ask fans of the old Candlestick Park what they think of the arena's "new" name. That's just the tip of the iceberg there. What about NASCAR? Is there anyone watching NASCAR who doesn't feel off-kilter when they can't say "Winston Cup" anymore? Does anybody remember that, rather than the name of an award/trophy, they are talking about a vendor when they say that?
Media advertising has been with us for some time, lurking in the shadows of consciousness. The seminal symbol of sports events, the Goodyear Blimp, is itself a giant advertising billboard flying from one sporting/concert event to another. Watch any televised World Cup soccer match, where instead of commercial breaks people may take a trip to the bathroom or kitchen during (and miss), you are now subconciously enticed into viewing an advertising logo every 12.5 seconds when you peer at the score or time remaining. Need I now point out the even more incredibly intrusive AOL yellow "dude" that runs onto the football field to display the first down yellow line? (That one killed me the first time I saw it...talk about marketing)
The more DVRs like ReplayTV and Tivo make the rounds, the more this sort of advertising will integrate itself into the programming itself. If not in some blatant smack of product placement ("Vote for the next American Idol by sending VOTE with your AT&T Wireless cell phone"), then certainly by some subtle logo or "bug" placed in such a way that you can't exclude the logo with any technological means without severly impacting the watchability of the programming itself.
I wouldn't be surprised if you don't see television programming deriving someday to the "watch-per-view" format that many premium websites go lately which require you to sit and watch a 30sec commercial before proceeding to the next page/download/etc. With the convergence of digital media and control devices (remotes, etc), it's not unlikely you'd get some method where you must watch a commercial and key a code on your remote to continue with the show. Incredibly invasive -- yes -- effective to force people to watch a commercial -- absolutely. How many people could they force to sit through mandatory commercials to watch the Friends finale in May?
Parent
I like it. (Score:5, Interesting)
It's horribly efficient. No "type in this 30-character URL", no "type in all your mailing info here", just push select and voila. This isn't the first time I've done it... TiVo offered a promotional DVD to give to your friends to tell them about TiVo. They made it available online, and via yellow star. Clicked, got the DVD. No hassles. No typing. Easy. And even after opting in (you can opt in, neutral, or out) to data collection in my personal preferences, I receive no junk mail or spam whatsoever from these companies. I get what I ask for, and nothing else.
This could be a phenomenal money maker for TiVo if done right. If I'm interested in your product, and you make information gathering as easy as pushing the "Thumbs Up" while watching the commercial (ala TiVoMatic icon), I guarantee I watch your 3- or 4-minute promotional video. Everyone wins. It helps the sponsor promote their product, and it does so without pissing off the end-user, because they request the video, they're not force fed. Now it becomes a convenience instead of an annoyance.
I hope the rest of the marketing world takes a good hard look at this business model... make your information easily accessible, don't beat your target audience over the head with it.
And originally people paid for cable (Score:3, Insightful)
A technology attempting to defeat commercials wants to have commercials. How unpredictable.
Wrong Direction (Score:5, Interesting)
This would allow me to let Quizno's know that I can't stand there singing hair balls.
Tivo needs to index the commercials... (Score:3, Interesting)
But all this data has to come from the broadcasters. Too much extra work? Perhaps the Ad Slots are not filled until the last minute, so this might not be practical...
Maybe there should be an All Commercial Channel with indexed searchable commercials. I'd watch it!
Well, no actually, "I'd TIVO it".
Reminders (Score:5, Funny)
No, but I am reminded of the "Want more?" hyperlink which appeared on the futuristic televisions in Starship Troopers.
Damn... Now I am also reminded of Denise Richards in Spandex.
Commercials *can* work (Score:5, Insightful)
The point I really wanted to make though is that a service like Tivo has the ability to change how commercials are delivered and viewed. I'll admin I enjoy watching *some* commercials. If I can watch targeted ads about things I'm interested in (technology, home improvement, food/wine) or could look actually pick commercials in a season-pass sort of way to find truly unique ones (like the Rube-Golberg inspired 'Cog' commercial from Honda) [imediaconnection.com] I'd surf commercials out of curiosity. I think the advertising industry could start making stars out of ad directors/designers/producers much like people follow certain individuals who create the shows we watch. Maybe it seems a bit far out, but Tivo has the technology to deliver the next generation of advertising.
--"I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it." -- Benjamin Franklin
Smart move. (Score:3, Insightful)
The key thing is it has to be done intelligently. Present the spiel, then let the end user wander through information about the product. Eg: car adverts: things like torque, horsepower, fuel economy, safety features, etc. Let the user feel like he's in control, not the advertiser. I'm sure that adverts of that nature would be of greater use to the end user than adverts saying "But wait! There's more! If you buy now, you get this FREE SET OF STEAK KNIVES!"
games programmer wanted (Score:3, Informative)
no, but it seems to me that Max Headroom was interesting because it was simply something different to look at. unfortunately, at this point in the flow of time, old school TV commercials aren't so interesting anymore.
what Tivo needs to do is promote some sort of development of interactive software that the viewer will *want* to mess around with. that way, Tivo could keep the viewer engaged while waiting for something less interactive to come along, like the next feed of some pr0n.
of course, I'm talking about a game that's fun to play and has Pepsi splattered all over it. Pepsi gets advertized, producers of old school commercials move to a new industry, Tivo gets its viable business model of commercials on demand, and geeks get paid.
what am I missing?
Blipverts? (Score:3, Informative)
From the article summary:
Is anyone else reminded of the blipverts from the Max Headroom series?"
No, but you just proved you're an idiot. You see a banner ad on a webpage, and you know that if you click it you'll read more information about the product, right? That's apparently what this thing is.
Blipverts, in Max Headroom, were taking a commercial that normally lasts 30 seconds and compressing it down to say 1 second or so. Then a person watches it, gets so much mental stimulation that generates electrical pulses in the body and causes them to explode.
Not the same thing at all. So you can take off your computer-simulated tin-foil hat, this time.
Right.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Kjella
Ads you can't ignore: *click* (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm pretty sure I'm seeing the last days of television (as I knew it and literally) when I see this stuff, because all it does it annoy the hell out of me.
I would so much rather have product placement (like a Ford car chase in a recent Alias), than the crappy 'splash screens' that are pushing shows that I will never watch. Ever.
BTW, Ford seems to be everywhere these days. Tivo had a clip on the GT 40, couple of minutes and kinda cool. On American Idol (don't get me started, I'm a musician and married - guess what won?), there was a 'video' that was the most blatant product placement I've ever seen. It was a 2 plus minute Ford commercial that made me not want a Ford and hate all on the screen, because it was so obvious 'THIS IS WHAT WE ARE SELLING'.
I can appreciate advertising. I deal with marketing my company -- I know that eyeballs count. But, (and I don't need a 4 year worthless degree to know this) the first rule is 'Do no harm.' Just like a doctor, but for your product's image.
Give me something new, and something that doesn't insult my intelligence (or lack thereof), don't play it into the ground (do you want to hear Freebird, Stairway or American Pie again?) and I may consider your product. At least I won't add it to the brain 'Hate File' and refuse to buy it for my irrational dislike of your marketing. People are irrational (that's also the first rule. See?)
And seriously, the all-obscuring splash screens will insure that I will: Be pissed off at whatever you're pushing, Be pissed off at your station/channel/advertiser, and look for my show(s) on the web (bye ad dollars), DVD (see you sponsors) or give it up for good (Oh NO!).
Sleep on it. And Ford? Way to get me to complement and complain about you on Slashdot. Well played, sir. I'm still not buying an Escort.
Sky Digital (Score:4, Informative)
A red circle appears at the top of the screen and if you want to know more, hit red and it takes you into a whole "interactive" section?
I LIKE commercials!! (Score:3, Interesting)
TIVO already sells a commercial space, and I reguarly watch them. They tend to have high production value and are usually entertaining. And I can CHOOSE to watch them or not... And most importantly WHEN I feel like watching them.
I like commercials in my newspaper and magazines. I am introduced to all sorts of stuff that I ultimately purchase that way.
I hate them during TV shows, but the TIVO method is better. I am INTERESTED in the commercial. I am paying attention to the message. And I have been sold by some (especially for movies, trailers and some supporting marketing stuff). This is very good for the marketers.
But, that said, there is still a problem. Commercials pay for most of the TV I watch (I watch alot of NICHE channels TLC Discovery, Travel, Food,SciFi, etc), and I have watched damned few commercials in the last 3 years. If everyone went to TIVO, I am not sure I would like TV as much, or that there would be the things that I like on TV, or it would be MUCH more expensive than it is currently.
I don't think this is the answer, as I am not sure how the shows benefit from TIVO based commercial sales. And TIVO is really only valuable to me, if there is TV I want to watch. So, 5 percent of you, buy a TIVO, for the other other 95 percent, TIVO sucks, just watch regular TV...
That should work out best for me...
Cogs (Score:5, Insightful)
With the Old TiVo I actually watched more comerica (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:With the Old TiVo I actually watched more comer (Score:3, Informative)
Re:In Max Headroom (Score:3, Informative)
although you could turn the volume to zero...