TiVo teaming up with advertising agencies

TiVo is working out a deal for it's users to be able to download ads as part of a deal with units of Interpublic Group, Omnicom Group and Publicis Groupe, as well as independent Dallas ad agency Richards Group and the ad sales division of cable operator Comcast.

The paper reported that the offering would allow customers to list a profile of products on their television screens in which they are interested, either by broad categories or specific brand names. TiVo would then download relevant commercials to TiVo recorders over the Internet or traditional broadcast signals, according to the report.

"We're flipping the dynamic," TiVo CEO and president Tom Rogers told the paper. "If you are in the market for a product, and you have no idea when commercials related to that kind of product are going to appear, it (traditional ad placement) doesn't help you very much."

This new offering would be available sometime next year and apparently TiVo and the ad agencies are discussing buying keywords, a la Google's model.

TiVo issued a press release today regarding this new model as well.

TiVo subscribers, if they choose to use the search capability, will retain control over their viewing experience through the creation of a viewer contributed profile via the set-top box that will enable them to receive advertisements based on their interests.

"TiVo is once again introducing to the TV landscape a new and innovative advertising solution that is intended to deliver an even better viewing experience for subscribers," said Tom Rogers, President and CEO of TiVo.

"TiVo intends to capture the best of the Internet advertising model and create a unique advertising product for the television medium that will provide measurable results. TiVo is committed to working with our advertisers, their agencies and our cable partners to develop new and innovative advertising solutions," said Davina Kent, Vice President, National Advertising Sales.

"We recognize that consumer media usage is changing and are committed to seeking out opportunities, like the new search product to be offered by TiVo, to continue to deliver our clients with maximum return on investment in their media choices," said Mark Rosenthal, Chairman and CEO, Interpublic Media, which oversees Interpublic's worldwide media operations, including Initiative, MAGNA Global, Universal McCann and a number of leading specialist media agencies. "In the rapidly evolving era of permission based marketing the ability for consumers to deliberately seek out long-form advertising is a huge boon for both advertisers and viewers."

"The new TiVo application will provide both a needed platform for consumers to seek out relevant, searchable commercial content and an environment for advertisers to engage highly desirable and motivated consumers," said Tracey Scheppach, Vice President, Video Innovations Director at Starcom, a division of Starcom MediaVest Group. "It's the first of its kind in the industry, and a platform that is clearly needed in this challenging advertising marketplace."