TiVo Ads

November 19, 2004 7:31 AM

Question about TiVo: The company just announced that "banner ads" would pop up while you're fast-forwarding through commercials. How exactly would this work? (mi)

I've seen tons about this concept but everybody's short on details. What I do know is that the ad will be small (not obscuring the whole screen), and would be inserted in the ad it was promoting, and no others. When I fast forward a thirty second commercial, the (jumbled up) commercial is on my screen for one half second (as the fastest FF speed is 60x). So I assume whatever "ad" pops up there will be barely visible. Is TiVo expecting I'm going to be even be able to see the ad, much less be so intriggued by it that I stop FF'ing, go to regular speed, and and then FF and REW a few times until I find the commercial with the ad bug in it? How can this even work?

posted by stupidsexyFlanders to technology (6 comments total)

When I skip commercials, I only use the second fastest speed, so I'd still see the add. Regardless, I don't think it'd be more complex than a roadside billboard.

I imagine it'd work along the same lines as the "Thumbs Up To Learn More" blips that pop up on commercials currently. But this is all speculation.

I'm still waiting for the TiVo Hadden feature (I feel dorky for writing that. You should feel worse for getting it.)
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:40 AM on November 19, 2004

I just want to chime in for a second to say how nice and surprising it was to hear mathowie on Marketplace on NPR the other day, about this issue. Very nice.

I use the 30-second skip feature exclusively for commericals. If banners show during the period I doubt I'll notice. I've got a quick hand with that thing, it probably takes me 4-5 seconds max to skip commercials.
posted by RustyBrooks at 8:12 AM on November 19, 2004

This post and this one over at the Haughey's PVRBlog are good summaries of what the public knows about this feature.
posted by revgeorge at 8:16 AM on November 19, 2004

My assumption was similar to the one robocop is describing -- a graphic that pops up rather like the progress bar that appears at the bottom of the screen when you fast forward, something just superimposed over the playback, not inserted into the playback itself. As long as you were in FF mode, there would be no way to avoid seeing the banner ad, too, even for 4-5 seconds.
posted by briank at 8:38 AM on November 19, 2004

I have a Series 1 TiVo and also avoid ads with 30 second skip. It works by pressing SELECT-PLAY-SELECT-3-0-SELECT while playing back video. The Skip 15 minutes button (below the fastforward button on my remote) changes to skip 30 seconds. If you want to change it back, do the button combination again. Most ad blocks are 5-6 30 second slots, so press the 30-second-skip button 6 times, then the instant replay (back 15 seconds) once or twice and you're golden. I don't see how TiVo can even have ads during commercials this way, unless they remove this undocmented feature. It's probably just for people that use fast-forwarding
posted by amuseDetachment at 10:53 AM on November 19, 2004

I've tried using the 30-second advance code on my Series 2 but can't seem to get it to work. Does anyone have any ideas how to get that nice quick blast?

I don't see how the ads will work, either. And those Green Thumb for more info popups just irritate me.
posted by fenriq at 3:03 PM on November 19, 2004