DVR inventor TiVo this week launched what it called Pause Menu, yet another way that pay TV operators can grab the attention of fast-forwarding viewers who often don’t watch ads the way they are traditionally delivered.
Pause Menu delivers targeted product messages when a program is paused, whether this is a live TV program or a timeshifted one. TiVo says the new feature can have a lot of impact for advertisers that have product integration in a specific TV show. The system can also use keywords within a program description to select the adverts to show. The adverts are downloaded to the DVR and then the best advert is selected to cover a period when the TV is paused.
The Pause Menu also provides broadband connected TiVo subscribers with a direct link to TiVo’s Swivel Search feature, allowing subscribers to find program information, related shows and downloads when they click on the ‘pause’ button on the TiVo remote.
Mercedes-Benz USA will be one of the first brands to use the Pause Menu to promote its new GLK SUV early next year, targeting football viewers. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will also use it to push DVD and Blu-ray content.
We think this is a genius step. How many times do TiVo owners pause a program while someone is out of the room, or just to get 15 minutes into a program so they don’t have to watch all the ads? While it’s paused, advertising messages will bleep across the screen.
The Pause Menu is yet another piece of intellectual property in the TiVo list and we’re pretty sure that both Comcast and DirecTV are likely to begin trials using the idea in the future, given that they are both licensees for TiVo patents and it would provide them with extra advertising inventory.
David Sandford Vice President Marketing and Product Management for TiVo Inc said, ‘It’s important to note that our interactive ad solutions have been so well received because they are non-intrusive and actually enhance the viewing experience. For example, our research tells us that linking the Pause Menu to our popular Swivel Search feature gets very positive viewer reaction. This creates value for viewers and effectiveness for advertisers ‘ a win, win situation.’
Promotions on the Pause Menu will be displayed as a single line of text and another line will link the viewer directly to TiVo’s Universal Swivel Search. The new feature has been launched on all TiVo Series2 boxes.
TiVo also said that the partnership with Netflix to show thousands of online movies to customers which have a TiVo who are Netflix customers, went live this week.