TiVo’s First interactive Advert within a TV Show

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

The latest press release from TiVo announces the first use of an interactive television advertisement within an actual show. TiVo have previously used interactive adverts outside of broadcasted TV shows as a means to overcome the negative effect of Ad skipping on the television advertising industry.

Lexus were the first to use these interactive television advertisements outside of TV shows and take advantage of the new technology. Now BMW are the first to try out this form of interactive advertising within a TV show. Working with TiVo and SPEED BMW have embedded interactive promotions leading up to and within the premiere of the TV show Test Drive.

"We're thrilled to be at the forefront of the next evolution of television advertising through our partnership with TiVo and SPEED," said Patrick McKenna, Manager, Marketing Communications, BMW of North America. "The first-ever interactive tag within programming will help us break through the increasingly cluttered television environment. At the same time, we're providing a valuable option for car enthusiasts to learn more about the extraordinary M line of cars as they watch them in action on the BMW M edition of Test Drive."

This could represent a new wave of targeted interactive advertisements appearing within our TV shows in a move to combat advert skipping. Content producers are increasingly exploring methods to increase interactivity while working on ways of integrating long form advertising.