Nielsen Sees Gold In TiVo Users

from the gotta-rush-that-out dept

It looks like TiVo is finally catching on. While Nielsen had planned to start including data on people using TiVo-like devices in 2006, they're now pushing that deadline up a year, as they've noticed that the TV-watching public is increasingly signing up for such services (thanks, in part, to various cable and satellite providers offering them with basic service). For the extra paranoid, Nielsen says they won't track things like whether or not people fast forward through commercials, but only whether or not the show was watched at a different time than it was originally broadcast. Still, it probably won't be long before they're tracking commercial skippers as well. So the question is, once the data on commercial skippers becomes public, what will happen? Will broadcasters demand changes in the technology (or the law!), or will they admit that it's time that they, themselves, changed how they present advertising (or, even, how they fund their operations)?
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Brian Clark, 8 Mar 2004 @ 10:12am

    TiVo & Neilson

    It's about time they did this: I've done Neilson books twice since I got a TiVo three years ago, and each time the instructions I received were that if I wasn't watching it live, I shouldn't record it.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    OldYeller, 8 Mar 2004 @ 10:14am

    The next Ad Offensive (or should I say, Offensive

    I was watching Cold Case Files on CBS last night, and at least 3 times during the show a DishTV text-only ad crawled across the bottom of the screen, pretending to be an alert for subscribers.

    This was really annoying since it overlayed the content itself insead of being in a separate crawler-space at the bottom, and obviously hit all of the viewers while pretending to be a targeted message (we use cable). Since we were expecting snow the next morning, it was hard to ignore since it looked like a weather warning.

    Then it hit me- this was a crude attempt to Tivo-proof their pitch, since it's part of the show. I don't know if this was a local or national ad, but I will vote with my remote and switch off any show that tries this on me again.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Michael Armstrong, 8 Mar 2004 @ 1:15pm

      Re: The next Ad Offensive (or should I say, Offens

      Well, I wouldn't blame the show, or even the network. I saw the same message on any show I watched the entire weekend. During Cold Case, it was tagged with the local affilliate name. During other shows, it was more generic.
      Offhand, I'd guess that my cable system (Comcast) gets its satellite feeds via Dish/Echostar and that the crawler was force-fed by them.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    aNonMooseCowherd, 8 Mar 2004 @ 8:56pm

    skipping commercials

    Still, it probably won't be long before they're tracking commercial skippers as well. So the question is, once the data on commercial skippers becomes public, what will happen?

    Isn't it obvious? People who skip the commercials will be branded "pirates" and will go to jail for "theft of service".

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.