December 3rd, 2006
TiVo: Would you like a commercial with that deleted program?
By: Chief Gizmateer, Gizmos for Geeks
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews
TiVo has added a commercial service called Program Placement that asks if a commercial can be shown while you delete shows from your TiVo DVR. This new service will launch in two weeks and promises to anger users as TiVo users have to press yet another button in addition to the standard “are you sure?” This is the latest enhancement of TiVo’s DVR service with hopes of generating some much needed advertising dollars.
MythTV, BeyondTV and SageTV look better all the time.
Source: DVR Playground
Charles says:
Select the show in the ‘What’s playing’ list, hit clear on the remote and it instantly goes to the ‘Recently Deleted’ folder.
December 3rd, 2006 at 10:09 pm
Sergio says:
Now Tivo is officially a “has been” kind of product.
December 4th, 2006 at 4:56 am
Charles says:
Actually, I don’t think so. It’s just succumbing to the realities of operating a business. All of these changes to include commercials could go away in a second if everyone was willing to pay $35 a month. Or whatever the price-point is they have to be a profitable business.
The other PVR type systems (DirectTV) are widely considered to be ‘less than Tivo’, and those people can’t wait to sign back up wit Tivo. But DirectTV folds the cost into the price of the cable, so it goes unnoticed (sort of).
December 4th, 2006 at 6:25 am
Erik says:
Well, in Tivo’s defense, they have a great product, a ton of users and the company is still not making a profit. With that said, this will annoy the hell out of me and I will intentionally make note of the ads and be sure to not buy whatever they’re selling.
Advertising revenue is not always the answer.
December 4th, 2006 at 6:55 am
Charles says:
But it usually is…
If Tivo doesn’t sell advertising, and they can’t raise monthly rates (past $19.99), where else would the money come from?
Cut jobs?
Sure, sure… you’ll remember what ads are on Tivo and not buy from them. Fine, but then if the advertisers stop buying, are you willing to pay a higher monthly rate?
December 4th, 2006 at 10:52 am
allen says:
Makes me glad that Tivo’s the only alternative to a digital set top box around.
December 4th, 2006 at 12:25 pm
Charles says:
Yep, a little real competition would be nice to spur the market. That could possibly drive things like online banking through Tivo or who knows what…
December 4th, 2006 at 10:53 pm