Voting with your Remote

Surprising news from "DM News" today.

DRTV spots least fast-forwarded in April: TiVo

"The least fast-forwarded television campaigns in April were dominated by direct response ads that ran during the day.

That was a key finding from TiVo Inc.’s first Top Commercial Rankings report. Using TiVo’s Stop-Watch service’s ability to track consumer viewing behavior on a second-by-second basis, in both Live and Timeshifted viewing context, TiVo will release these reports monthly."

So, are daytime TV watchers just bored, or did someone working on media placement (for products like "Perfect Pushup Exercise Equipment," "Air Hogs Toys" and "Almost Golf Sporting Goods") just do a super job of media placement? Maybe a combination of both...

I'd love to see how this translates to sales. And, with DRTV, those sort of metrics are certainly available. Common sense tells me that people who watch are more likely to buy, right?

In any event, I like the fact that TiVo is tracking how people are using their tool. One of the things that advertisers worry about is the fact that, with TiVo, we can fast-forward through commercials. As more and more of us use TiVo, how effective will TV advertising even be? TV Execs are scared that advertising dollars will shift dramatically from TV, and rightfully so.

Because of this, TiVo is brilliant to add tracking capabilities.

My gut feeling is that their tracking tools will prove that people WILL watch ads for things that they are interested in, or interested in buying soon. Perhaps they're turning TV into another true direct marketing channel--one that can be measured and tracked, even if it's NOT an infomercial. And, in my opinion, that's making television a much more important and effective advertising medium.

You know my position on measurement--I'm all for it. I wanna see more!