Media Week has a story on how TiVo is looking to step in and fill a void left by Nielsen measurement to provide commercial viewing measurement with DVR viewing factored in for local markets.. Nielsen has begun providing program viewing measurements that include 3 days of DVR viewing at the local level, but these local delayed viewing measurements don't measure the commercial viewing advertisers want to see.
The bad news for TiVo is that it hasn't had a quarter where it had any net subscriber gains in over two years. The Media Week story notes, while the TiVo data can't provide the rich demographic data that advetisers want (and Nielsen provides), even though it doesn't have a large DVR subscriber base relative to the cable and satellite companies, it would have larger samples than typical ratings measurements for local markets.
1. What good would it be to have a larger sample base if you’re getting less detailed information?
2. How does this work exactly? Are people not given the option to opt-out? I mean, TiVo has over 3 mil subscribers, but this sounds like they have at least 1 mil being tracked for Stop || Watch, and I highly doubt that a third of their subscribers actually willingly signed up for this.
1. I think it might be useful to corroborate the local L3 data. but not be something that would be used *instead* of it
2. my guess is they track everyone who has a TiVo series 3 and the difference is the people with series 1 and series 2 devices. Another guess is the bulk of their subscribers have series 2. But it’s just a guess.
So the data is automatically tracked and reported on, possibly with no opt-out, and if there is an opt-out, you probably have to actually read the fine print to even know you’re being tracked. If TiVo wants to actually gain more subscribers, this seems like a very bad idea.
I don’t object to more data. In fact, I think more data is a very good thing. But infringing on privacy without consent and/or knowledge makes me very uncomfortable. I had originally thought that there were about 100,000 panel members total, which I could certainly believe had consented, but I really don’t want the future to involve every single viewer being counted individually, just by virtue of owning a TV.
Julia, they are only counting data in the aggregate and aren’t saying “Robert, who lives at XYZ, watched the following commercials” but rolling it up into an aggregate count. I don’t see it as a big privacy concern since no data about users is being released (and other than name and address, none is even collected).
well obviously they do collect what the household watches…but again, that information isn’t released at the level of individual TiVo subscribers.
I understand that, but the fact that it’s collected at all without knowledge or consent is the problem. I know that all cable companies at least have the ability to collect that data, but they aren’t selling parts of the data they collect to whoever wants to pay for it.
I don’t know if that’s a fair assumption Julia. If you really care, you should find out what they actually do. I’m sure there is a ton of info about it on the Internet and probably even on their site. But I’m not curious enough to research it. If my TiVo was plugged in (it isn’t, but still) and they were collecting data, it wouldn’t bother me at all. But I have no idea at this point what kind of opt-in/opt-out policies they have on that.
I’m all for being counted with a TiVo(if I had one). Since if you’re not in a big top 50 market Neilsen isn’t even looking at you which is something I resent. This would give the nets an option to get instant numbers for places Neilsen couldn’t be bothered with.
As much as I knock TiVo as having no business model, I’ve got to believe that their data could be very useful to some buyers. With absolutely no numbers to go on though, I’d hazard a guess that the business is unlikely to make a meaningful revenue contribution to TiVo.
If you invite TIVO into your home knowing that you are going to be using a service that inherently records your viewing habits (because YOU push the record button), then what is the beef? It’s not as if these boxes are being forced upon people.
When you buy a product and fill out the card for your warrenty, you are giving the company info on your buying habits, which you know they keep track of for marketing and in house survey purposes, yet no one cares. If you fill out a receipt at the store, you are giving the store your info and know they will use it, which doesn’t bother anyone.
Why is TIVO any different? Because you are nervous they will find out how much porn you watch?
We all bitch about the ratings system being flawed, yet now we also bitch about TIVO using the data we freely provide them in order to perhaps do a much better survey of viewing habits; a survey that could keep the shows we like on the air?
This is much ado about nothing. TIVO is going down the tubes not because of this, but rather because cable companies now offer superior DVR options for a lower price and less hassle. I may bitch about TIME WARNER, but it’s actually cheaper for me (three HD DVRs) than getting DISH or DIRECTTV. Every year I check into my options, and every year I have found that the sat. providers require me to purchase my DVRS if I want that many HD DVRs, as TIVO does, which is a horrible option. Once you buy it, you are stuck with it no matter what. While I have to pay slighty higher fees with Time Warner, I get a new box whenever I want it. If my box goes bad, they replace it no charge, no questions asked.
I cannot believe I am saying something positive about Time Warner, but there you go. It’s the lesser of two money grubbing evils for now.
If a DVR company wants to track my programs, fine. If you are embarrassed by what you watch, then don’t use the box. Otherwise, what is the downside? Getting stressed over this is taking privacy worries to a ridiculous extreme.
The “old”, ie. national, StopWatch service had a sample size of 100,000 households, 20,000 of which had opted in to provide demographic data for the household. (I think you had to opt OUT of the non-demographic panel, but, obviously, opt IN for the demographic panel.)
The new StopWatch was originally supposed to cover two million households. 400,000 of them were supposed to have demographic and consumer data spliced in by way of data fusion. But I have no idea if that’s still the scale they are going with.
I actually want Tivo to capture my TV viewing habits. I want them to use this data to provide to the networks. Anything to improve the current Nielsens ratings system. I don’t have a privacy concern – I don’t have secrets as to what TV shows I watch.
It should be no shock to think TiVo recorded your show information. Google and all the other search engines record your search data why would not expect the same from TiVo or other companies that have DVR’s. TiVo has no net subscriber growth cause it’s competing with cheaper platforms out there. Frankly they don’t offer that much more for the more expensive price not to mention they compete with the internet which is free.