TiVo Introduces Ads for the Bubble Generation

I will say this, TV is not going down without a fight.

A couple months ago, Jupiter Research issued a report that found that more than 50 percent of digital video recorder owners skip commercials (more like 90 percent).  These bypassed ads cost networks as much as $8 billion in lost annual revenue.

Yesterday, TiVo, the people who brought the analog-age medium to its knees, introduced a new advertising model it calls "Program Placement."  Basically, this feature puts a commercial pitch in the dead space after a television program has ended.  Viewers who fast-forward through the commercials and arrive on the end screen can then choose to get more information about a highlighted product or click on a coupon or otherwise get involved with a brand.  The opt-in aspect and potential for some meaningful permission-based engagement might just make this model viable.  Otherwise, TV advertising is running out of options faster than you can click on the right arrow of your remote.

The bottomline: the Bubble Generation doesn't want to be bothered with ads, certainly not off-message ads.  Sure, they have interests and wants just like anyone else of any age, but they satisfy their buying impulses through friend-to-friend referrals and shopcasts and through the joy of discovery.  Taking a perfectly good football game and littering it with knucklehead commercials only nets negative results for the brands and the networks.  The 30-second spot is dead; time to try something new.  Maybe TiVo is on the right track.