--TiVo's Stop//Watch Ratings Service to Measure Consumption of Broadband Content on TV
TiVo announced late Monday the availability of the TiVo Slide Remote, which features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The company is touting the new remote as facilitating progressive search on the TV--currently, TiVo users have to enter search terms via an on-screen keyboard. "This finger-friendly device strengthens TiVo's product offerings, giving consumers the best tools to find what they want more quickly," Jim Denney, TiVo's VP and general manager of product marketing, said in a prepared statement. "This is the first ever DVR remote with a full QWERTY keyboard, and we are certain that users will be excited to get their thumbs on it. The slick design has the same fun look of the classic TiVo remote, but makes it even easier to get more from your TV experience."
According to TiVo, the new remote incorporates Bluetooth technology, giving it a range of up to 30 feet; is fully backlit; and includes power and volume controls for the TV. It is installed easily, the company says, by plugging its USB receiver into the port on the TiVo box. Priced at $89.99, it is available now on TiVo's own Web site, and is slated to be available in Best Buy stores nationwide this weekend. It is designed to work with the TiVo Premiere and Premiere XL, Series3, HD and HD XL boxes.
In order to drive interest in the new remote, TiVo is holding a "30 Slides in 30 Days Sweepstakes," which it says will see it giving away a TiVo Slide each day for 30 days. In order to enter the contest, consumers must become a fan of TiVo on Facebook or follow the company on Twitter. More information on the sweepstakes is available at http://www.tivo.com/30slides.
In other TiVo news: The company said Monday that it has enhanced its Stop//Watch anonymous ratings service in order to enable it to become the first TV research company to simultaneously offer measurement of both traditional linear-TV consumption and consumption of broadband-delivered (OTT) services on the TV. The company says that the new capability is designed to provide advertisers, brands and networks with a deeper level of insight into viewing behavior that "goes beyond simple demographics."
According to TiVo, its ability to measure both traditional TV consumption and broadband content viewing from a single source--which it describes as having been developed in order to keep it "well ahead of the curve when it comes to set-top box data measurement by offering the most diverse and customizable look into the future of television available while respecting subscriber privacy"--is powered by "the granular, second-by-second set-top box data from [the company's] Stop//Watch ratings services." The company touts its "role as a leader in marrying traditional linear television with the near infinite content available on the Internet, all in an easy-to-navigate user interface and search functionality" as making it possible for its clients to use the latest version of the Stop//Watch ratings service "to review and analyze powerful audience measurement metrics on the behavior of those watching traditional TV and now all of TiVo's broadband video options which includes streaming and downloadable movies." (Note: the 100 or so broadband-delivered content services available on TiVo include Amazon VOD, Blockbuster On Demand, Netflix, YouTube, National Geographic Channel, FrameChannel, Rhapsody, Picasa, and Music Choice.) The company plans to begin offering the new combined ability to measure linear-TV and OTT content consumption next month. "This is a great day for advertisers, brands and networks that must find more effective ways to reach their target audiences especially as the proliferation of advanced/broadband television complicates the audience measurement process," Elissa Lee, VP of TiVo Audience Research & Measurement, said in a prepared statement. "The ability to see far beyond just simple, stagnant demographics and use the power of our second-by-second set-top box data to measure the percentage of TiVo households watching traditional TV vs. streaming video content over a given time is a true game changer for the media industry and will become ever more valuable as the convergence of Internet content to the TV becomes increasingly more prevalent."
