TiVo Develops System To Track Ads

America’s pioneering digital video recorder company, TiVo, has devised a system that allows advertisers to discover the least-skipped and most-watched commercials.

The system, which tracks consumer behaviour on a second by second basis, in both live and time-shifted viewing, shows the top commercial in the States in April and May was for Dreamworks’ movie, Disturbia, appearing during TV drama House on March 27.

That challenges perceived wisdom that the most successful ad would appear in the most-watched programme, since House was the eighth most-popular show during the period.

“For many years, various sources have provided rankings of top programmes. But nobody has ever provided the same type of information for commercials. And this is what marketers really care about, especially with the proliferation of DVRs,” said TiVo audience research chief Todd Juenger.

“We believe these monthly reports will be both fun and informative, and provide just a small taste of the type of insight into DVR viewing behaviour, time-shifting, and specific commercial ratings available to subscribers of TiVo’s StopWatch service,” he added.

TiVo: www.tivo.com