Digital video recording company TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO) has developed a system for tracking the TV viewing habits of individuals minute-by-minute. Combined with basic demographic data, the information may make the targeting of television ads more effective.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE)'s NBC seems to have bought into the new program. It will use the TiVo product to help its advertisers do a better job of reaching their audiences. "Advertisers have been asking us to help them find new ways to make TV advertising more effective," Mike Pilot, president of NBC Universal Sales and Marketing, told The Wall Street Journal.
TiVo's product does not seem to help advertisers with certain critical problems like skipping commercials on shows that were recorded by the consumer to be viewed later. It is also not clear whether individual viewing behavior is an effective way to make advertising work better. Just because a 50-year old man is watching a show about a car does not mean he is in the market for a new vehicle.
Once TiVo or another company can offer a service that allows marketers to know what the viewer is thinking, they may have a service that really works.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
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