As previously posted, Seven network is bringing TiVo to Australia in early 2008. Well, it looks like the move is already going over well with advertisers – according to The Sydney Morning Herald:
At least 20 big companies have rapidly signed up with cheques of more than $1 million to become “foundation partners” with Seven in the TiVo service.
Those fat cheques give the companies early and usually exclusive access to, and participation in, Australian TiVo trials to figure out how consumers are going to behave with a powerful little box which lets them watch what they want, when they want. And possibly, but increasingly unlikely, zap ads.
The ‘unlikely’ comment about ad-zapping is interesting, because the article goes on to say that Seven is “options to slow the ad-zapping possibilities” of the offering. It isn’t clear if that is some technical effort – say to block FF over ads, or maybe limit it to slower speeds, etc, or if it is more an effort to discourage it through better content or even alternative techniques – such as the ‘billboard’ pop-ups TiVo has used in the states during FF over ads.
Certainly something to keep an eye on ad the plans for the deployment firm up.
