Digital Home Thoughts: Tivo Makes Tivo-ing an Infomercial Possible, Finally

“Television recording technology company TiVo Inc. on Monday said it launched a service that will allow its customers to search for and watch extended commercials when they choose…TiVo subscribers will be able to select ads, ranging from one minute to one hour and have it delivered directly to the main screen on their TiVo device…TiVo has for years offered its subscribers the opportunity to view a limited number of long-form video ads, mostly from cars makers and Hollywood studios. While only a relatively smaller percentage of users watched the videos, it enabled TiVo to guarantee hundreds of thousands of viewers for ads that may be bypassed on network TV or radio.”



Super! Now I won’t have to miss another episode of Amazing Discoveries, now that I can get it on Season Pass! Seriously though, I’m happy for TiVo for getting back on the good side of the advertisers, since it is they that keep TV free (and crappy, and not really free, if you have cable, so screw them), but if you are TiVo-ing infomercials, I envy you for the free time you have, and I pity you for your taste in programming.