Interactive TV: UPDATE

Well that was fast. We just posted about whether or not the future was finally here as it pertains to interactive TV. Less than three weeks later comes this:

"Tivo announced they have teamed up with Amazon to provide consumers with the ability to purchase physical products from Amazon.com on their TV sets using their Tivo remote control."

 

So Tivo, which was once viewed as the TV advertising killer is now sleeping with the enemy and becoming a potential advertising savior. The word "Tivo" has become consumer shorthand for any DVR, just like Band-Aid or Kleenex. But while Band-Aid and Kleenex pretty much own the boo-boo and booger spaces, everyone and their brother makes a DVR and Tivo's market share has been steadily declining. They are only in about 4 million homes. As we noted before, this idea has failed many times in the past, largely because stopping to buy something while you're watching TV interrupts the experience you had settled in for: watching TV. Tivo may have figured out a way around this. If you choose to buy an advertised item, Tivo will record the rest of the program (duh, it's Tivo!), so that you can go back and watch it after you've made your purchase.

On another topic, I can't help but notice that some of the posts we make here on the Clearcast blog have been jumping onto the front pages of the NY Times or other more, shall we say, traditional forms of media shortly after we write about them. Jill Bolte Taylor, the dancing guy and now this (to name just three). I am certainly not saying that there is a causal relationship. All I am saying is we seem to be on a hot streak, so if you want to know what's next, stay tuned here. Oh, and please tell a friend (or two).