< http://www.newscientist.com > Interactive TV "spam" a taste of the future 18:15 31 May 02 Barry Fox
Over 400,000 owners of a smart video recorder in both the US and UK have had their first taste of their device's full capabilities. But the forced downloading of unrequested material has upset many consumers, who have labeled it "TV spam". They all own a TiVo recorder that records programmes on a computer hard disk and is controlled by a Linux computer that learns what programmes they like, and then records more of the same without asking. But TiVo can also be made to record programmes that someone else thinks they may like. It emerged on Thursday that the BBC had paid TiVo to force the machines in 50,000 homes to record a sitcom that the BBC wanted them to see. Marketing analysts have called the move a spectacular own goal. The show, Dossa and Joe, was broadcast at night because it contained strong language, but after recording was available the next morning to anyone old enough to press the play button. The BBC also ran the programme late so recorders lost the last two minutes. The broadcaster has admitted its mistake and TiVo's Andrew Cresci says: "We should have explained more about what was going on. It was supposed to be a cool introduction of new technology". Free advertainment In the US, TiVo subscribers are just getting their first "advertainment" courtesy of TiVo, with 30 second advertisements expanded into longer promotions. While ordinary TV sets showed a short clip of singer Sheryl Crow, viewers with TiVos could click on the remote control to play a previously recorded "behind the scenes jam session", followed by an advert. Tivo paused the live TV by continuing to record it while playing the extended advert. TiVo insist that forced recordings do not waste disc capacity, because all unsolicited material is stored in a "reserved service area" used for the operating system software and programme schedule information which the machine regularly downloads. The forced recordings self-delete after four days. Demonstrations given recently to New Scientist by TiVo engineers reveal ambitious ideas for the future. Second generation recorders scheduled for the end of 2002 will record music from CDs and the internet, still pictures from digital cameras and download games. Tailored adverts Patents filed by TiVo reveal more. Because TiVo lets viewers zip through a recording to avoid any commercial breaks, broadcasters cannot charge so much to transmit adverts. So TiVo can use the reserved area of the disc to store adverts and play them just before and just after a recorded programme. Because TiVo learns what kind of programme the owner wants to watch, the recorder can select adverts most likely to appeal to the viewer and "the service provider can charge for targeted advertising", says the patent. But anti-TV group Whitedot worries about the loss of viewers' privacy: "The last thing you want is for your television to find out you have haemorrhoids," says Jean Lotus of Whitedot USA. Not so says Cresci. In the UK no data leaves the viewer's box. In the US the box sends back market research data on viewers' habits but only anonymously for aggregation with the box serial numbers stripped out. 18:15 31 May 02
