TiVo increasing on-screen ads, cable companies rejoice
Sometimes you just have to sit back and wonder what TiVo is thinking. Apparently the biz dev team there doesn’t think the unending onslaught of television commercials is enough to drive the average television watcher completely insane, so it seems to be doing everything it can to place ads over every last square inch of the TiVo UI. TiVo users may have thought that every possible screen was already laced with advertising banners but it looks like there’s at least one spot that hasn’t been covered yet – the pause screen. That’s right folks, now you can’t even escape TiVo’s ads when you pause your set. Great. For the time being, only Series 2 box owners get this extra little bit of spam to enjoy but Series 3 owners can expect it soon enough. So let’s see. TiVo upfront costs: $150 – $600. Typical cable company DVR upfront cost: $0. TiVo monthly cost: $13. Typical cable company DVR monthly cost: $7 – $10. TiVo: ads everywhere. Typical cable company DVR: minimal or even no ads. But hey, at least with TiVo you can order fast food without even having to reach for a phone…
I can’t speak for any other cable provider but Comcast’s DVR is a joke compared to TiVo. What I love about Comcast’s DVR is the built-in delay feature. Just for fun it randomly decides not to immediately respond to input from the remote. Press pause and it might actually pause anywhere from 5 to 20 seconds later. Doesn’t happen all the time, just enough times to annoy the heck out of you. Then I really love the keep recording and recording and recording function. I delete an episode and 20 minutes later it’s taping the same damned episode. That’s better than TiVo’s version of a recycle bin any day of the week.
In this humble user’s opinion, TiVo is worth every penny.
BTW, TiVo tried this type of advertising a few years ago and it quietly disappeared. I suppose they figured out that people weren’t actually interested in clicking to see an advertisement.
Why would cable companies rejoice at Tivo putting more advertising on their DVRs? Tivo gets the money not the cable cos unless there is a revenue sharing agreement.
@rudy
The feburary cutover is only for over-the-air (rabbit ear) analog going away. Most cable companies are still keeping their analog (basic) services open for the forseeable future. But eventually these cable companies will get rid of analog in order to open up more bandwidth for on-demand and more HD services. When that happens, I’ll still have saved more money this way..
@ Synergy…the title may not be an indication but I believe he is talking about it from a costumer’s perspective.
I love watching Tivo erode their enormous goodwill.
I’ve had TWC Cable in NYC (HD dvr box) for over a year now, but I just got a Tivo HD, thinking I would get away from the higher prices and fees. Wrong – so before I even set it up, I’m returning it because Tivo expects you to pay for a cablecard, and other equipment which is needed for the service recording.
Instead, I’m getting a good HD antenna and HD drv NOT associated with any service. The cost may be a bit more upfront, but within a year, it’s paid for itself twice, and no data-gathering commercials, no fees, taxes, etc.
Content – we all know most of it is bull, so why support it all, or support infrastructure that forces one kind of service? Just say no.
if you’re so concerned, it’s really difficult to beat Snapstream’s BeyondTV. It really does EVERYTHING — including auto removal of commericals, etc. — but does require you supply the hardware/OS.
the firefly remote is pretty killer as well.. -GA
side note about firefly — if you’ve never used a RF remote, you have not lived… -GA
One day ads will dominate the screen and the actual show will be a tiny box in the corner that subsequently hovers around the screen like a bug and has a screensaver that activates every two minutes, WITH ITS OWN FUCKING AD-BREAKS and thats not even when you record, thats just the standard view: when you record something you will have to watch an 8-hour lecture about piracy and the divinity of advertisment, and will have to have watched it within 12 hours of recording or your home becomes property of Stan Liebowitz and you incur a penalty that must be worked off in the employ of viacom. I need a time machine guys