TIVO- ADVERTISER'S FRIEND OR FOE?

Three little letters changed the television future forever. DVR. With the advent of digital video recorders, a company named TiVo was born and so were advertiser's worst nightmares. TiVo is the original company that provided consumers with a way to record their favorite shows on live television and watch at their own convenience later. With this technology came the ability to fast-forward or just plain skip any advertisements and commercials that accompany said favorite show. For advertisers, this spelled disaster. It seemed TiVo would be the death of commercials and television advertising as we knew it. Until recently, this seemed to be the fate most advertisers had in mind. Now, TiVo has joined forces with Nielsen, whose audience ratings have been around since the sixties and are the basis for most ad sales within local television segments and markets. TiVo will now offer stations, advertisers and program producers year round, second-by-second information about the shows and commercials being watched by their consumers who own a TiVo DVR. In other words, the company who made it possible to skip ads is going to help companies sell them instead. So, what's the big deal? This is like Christmas for advertising companies. With this information from TiVo and Nielsen, companies will be able to know who is continuing to view their advertisements and when. According to Todd Juenger of Nielsen's research and measurement management team, "imagine a local news department that has to decide where to put sports and where to put weather and how much time to devote for each". The information provided by TiVo will do just that; provide advertisers with the who, what, and when their ads are being watched. Juegner states, "having second-by-second graphs that show when the audience goes up, goes away, or fast-forwards through a commercial or advertisement is a tremendous new piece of insight".



Check out what some other articles are saying about TiVo and their capabilities. Will the face of television advertising continue to change as DVR's get better, faster, and more innovative or will commercials forever remain in the lives of television audiences?



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/business/media/02ratings.html?pagewanted=all



http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_42/b3955118.htm



http://www.bigshinything.com/tivo-makes-friend-with-advertisers

Gettin yoself a Scholaaarship?

With just about every aspect of our lives, technology has changed all that it touches. This includes the wide world of sports and how technology has changed the way athletes are recruited at the collegiate level. Past generations of athletes have sent out grainy video tapes, letters to coaches, and if they are especially tech-savvy, even a DVD of their skills resume. However, as online, social networking, and media websites become the norm among amidst our population, college recruiting websites have jumped on the bandwagon as well. Organizations like the National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) and PrepChamps.com have websites http://www.ncsasports.org/blog/category/highlight-video/
that provide and guide high school athletes with the step by step tools and resources to create a highlight or skills tape to send Colleges and Universities with ease. YouTube has become more than a website for funny videos or clips for movies, it is an easy and essential tool that allows college coaches to view their potential recruits in action with the click of a mouse. Highlight videos are the p`iece de r`esistance if you will, for any athlete in search of a scholarship. As the old saying goes, "seeing is believing" rings true in the arena of sports as well. Videos can open the door for many players, as it allows them to highlight their biggest assets and compile examples of their skills from previous game footage to brand or market themselves the best way possible.
With the onset of March Madness upon us, most of us are awed and wowed by the utter talent and athletic ability these young men possess. As buzzer beaters sink through nets at the last second and those of us watching are saying to ourselves "how did he just make that shot?", chances are those guys are former high school standouts with a YouTube video full of highlights. Look them up when you have a chance...