IP: TiVo drives advertisers to ever more desperate moves...

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 18:42:04 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> To: dave () farber net
>
> Dave,
>
> If you're fed up with the increasingly large, animated, and opaque ID "bugs"
> in the corner(s) of television programming (see "Spraying the TV Screen" -
> http://www.vortex.com/reality/2001-03-27), you haven't seen anything yet.
>
> The NY Post is reporting that TV broadcasters are now considering the use of
> paid *advertising* bugs that would be present on the screen at all times
> during shows (presumably in addition to channels' own identification bugs).
> So before long, we can probably expect to see continuous spinning burgers,
> waving Viagra bottles, and who knows what else to distract the viewer.
> There are also reports of technology to insert paid product placements into
> reruns of shows, providing endless opportunities for ever-changing,
> non-skippable exploitation of programming libraries.
>
> It's not fair to blame only the broadcast networks for this--some of the
> most obnoxious and annoying bugs are displayed by cable networks (one cable
> channel recently seems to have started using the black "letterboxing" bars of
> feature films for continuous promotional materials).
>
> The battle of advertisers and broadcasters vs. the lowly viewers
> (and their home video technology) is only beginning!
>
> --Lauren--
> Lauren Weinstein
> lauren () pfir org or lauren () vortex com or lauren () privacyforum org
> Co-Founder, PFIR: People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
> Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
> Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
> "Reality Reset" Columns - http://www.vortex.com/reality



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