Through The Fly's Eyes: TiVo Inc.

from Eric Buscemi of Theflyonthewall.com











TiVo Takes Another Step Backward

Tivo (TIVO) announced on the 28th, to understandably little fanfare, a new advertising initiative called "Program Placement," which you should not confuse with the term "product placement," a succesful advertising strategy.

In the words of Davina Kent, VP of national advertising sales for TiVo, "When you exit the program, up pops the program that says do you want to delete, yes or no, and that's the screen where we placed an entry point to attract viewers into a branded experience. There is going to be a third option on that screen that says click here to buy the sound track to the show you just saw, or see this advertisement about what you just saw."

The option of buying the soundtrack to what you were just watching is an interesting one, but the problem is that it is a very small market. Any other use for that space is just pop-up advertising, which does not endear consumers to the products that are being sold in that space.

Advertisers are not likely to be interested in TiVo's latest lame attempt at boosting its revenue. Without a fresh, innovative idea, TiVo is going to find it very difficult to increase its revenue, especially considering the popularity of the product is based on the fact that it helps its users fast-forward through advertisements.