TiVo heard you liked ads, so it's putting ads in your pause menu so you can watch ads while you skip ads. Already rolled out on older
Series2 hardware last December, Dave Zatz posts that the 11.0c software update for Series3 /
TiVo HD hardware brings the new "feature" of ads popping up while viewers are time shifting. That can show up as a "More information" prompt for some shows, as seen above, but will hold advertisements on certain programs. The prompt will only show up once per recording, but if this
new form of advertising bugs you, TiVo Community user bfdtv instructs that permanently hiding the progress bar can be achieved by pressing pause, press down to hide the popup, press play again, then enter SELECT-PLAY-SELECT-PAUSE-SELECT, which can also be reversed by using the code again while watching a recording. Still, we doubt the ad skipping arms race will end here.
Read - TiVo's Pause Menu Spam Hits S3/HD Units
Read - TivoHD Overview, Q&A, Setup, Tips
posted Apr 6th 2009 at 4:34AM
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
What a surprise @ Apr 6th 2009 4:55AM
I love Engadget! I love Sesame Street, and I love an informative add sometimes. Who doesn't? Sometimes adds tell you exactly what you need to know, and sometimes they are fun to watch. Like the Microsoft adds we have all enjoyed watching over the weekend.
What a surprise @ Apr 6th 2009 4:58AM
Also, someone has to pay for the content we love watching.
Max @ Apr 6th 2009 5:12AM
I think you missed something here, this is the internet. You can't like stuff here.
ED @ Apr 6th 2009 5:33AM
Also, advertisement and its abbreviation do not have two d's.
Wwhat @ Apr 6th 2009 10:32AM
So we agree, make it optional so those liking ads or who like being compliant can finance the industry.
arccoyote @ Apr 6th 2009 3:22PM
Microsoft ads? really?
I didn't see them.
Windows Media Center detects and skips commercials for me :)
Joel @ Apr 6th 2009 4:45PM
Pay for the content? Over the air needs ads, but I pay for cable and have to watch ads. Seems ridiculous to me.
octoberasian @ Apr 6th 2009 4:56AM
Wait... wait... wait... you mean I have to enter a series of button presses just to hide the ads in while it's paused?
"... pressing pause, press down to hide the popup, press play again, then enter SELECT-PLAY-SELECT-PAUSE-SELECT..."
Read that and tell me that doesn't sound ridiculous at all.
That's like asking TiVo to give you infinite lives and maybe infinite ammo. >.>
Why not just make it "Up, Down, Up, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, A, B, A, B, Start, Select" instead?
Tim @ Apr 6th 2009 5:10AM
Are you serious? It's just a little menu bubble. You can't ignore that?
Hell, the highlighting doesn't even default to the ad. It defaults to the "More about... whatever" option, and that takes you to swivel search.
This is basically the least invasive advertising I've ever seen, and if it means funding for the development of new features and better technology for my TiVo box, then I think I can deal
worm @ Apr 6th 2009 8:23AM
Um...hello...it's Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right-B-A-Select-Start
Kelmon @ Apr 6th 2009 5:10AM
Hasn't Big Bird fallen foul of a Thanks Giving stunt gone bad yet?
TareX @ Apr 6th 2009 5:29AM
Is sesame street still on? That's good...
tcruiser @ Apr 6th 2009 7:31AM
I hope this means that the new version of the software works. I've been getting the the Tivo version of the blue screen of death, ie the grey screen of death, on my HD DVR since December.
kevin @ Apr 6th 2009 1:09PM
That doesn't sound like a software issue to me, you might have some unfortunate hardware failure. Just FYI that if you get the Tivo Green Screen of Death, it usually indicates a hard drive issue.
tranzparentl @ Apr 6th 2009 7:36AM
The only way this would be acceptable is if they dropped their monthly fee which I know isn't going to happen.
DTVPal DVR FTW!
Logan Greenlee @ Apr 6th 2009 7:37AM
@Tim That is not the point, it is the principle of it. Ads have been isidiously invading TiVo for years, every year they show up in some new part of the interface.
TiVo makes you pay an insanely high fee for what? A TV guide? For a simple data feed that someone could compile almost for free.
On top of that you have to pay for the hardware.
Every year TiVo expands their revenue stream with your eye balls, but there is never a savings to you.
I can assure you if you went from the TiVo ad model of today and applied it to TiVo users interfaces 3 years ago there would be outrage.
Le Big Mac @ Apr 6th 2009 9:10AM
I pay tivo to avoid ads, not to get ads from someone else. Enough already.
radarskiy @ Apr 6th 2009 4:19PM
I pay Tivo so I don't have to touch the box from the cable company. That's a bargain at any price.
Chris K @ Apr 6th 2009 10:50AM
Hm, I was going to finally move back to Tivo from my DTV DVR when they released a new MPEG4 Tivo for DTV. Now I'm not. I'd rather deal with a sluggish interface than suffer ads. That is, after all, why I bought a Tivo way back when they launched.
Tivo has poisoned their own well. :(
kevin @ Apr 6th 2009 1:11PM
Even though you can turn the ads off?
coyotej @ Apr 6th 2009 1:48PM
Have you actually seen these ads in action? Has is reduced the quality of your experience to the point where it's a no-go?
Jason @ Apr 6th 2009 8:46AM
Well, this menu only shows up when Pausing or fast forwarding (I think on the latter, but not sure).... Either way, I use the 30 second skip for moving past adds, and when I use pause, that usually means I walk away from the TV for some reason, so inserting add bubbles does not affect me in any way.
THJ @ Apr 6th 2009 2:46PM
Yeah, I've started use the 30 -> and
james @ Apr 6th 2009 9:25AM
After my experiences with my cable providers DVR this weekend I'm ready to get an HD Tivo, regardless of these ads (the DVR has ads too, fwiw). I HATE that motorola box that Insight Cable uses - I'm still in love with my Series 1 Tivo but need some HD time shifting.
elbrando @ Apr 6th 2009 11:56AM
I'm with ya, James! Tried the Cox box for a year after having TiVo for 3 years before. Cox jacked up my "service & rental" fees to almost $20 a month.
So, I took TiVo's offer to previous members for $100 off lifetime and bought the XL HD. Holy crap, what a difference. Yeah, it cost me $900 bucks, but I'm don't have to pay Cox for a supremely inferior POS.
My wife and kids are much happier as am I. Best money I ever spent (almost).
Doug @ Apr 6th 2009 9:32AM
Being that I am paying a heavy premium over cable boxes for what amounts to be TVguide updates, with a litter better interface, it's a little ridiculous that Tivo wants to continue to add advertisements to the interface (this certainly isn't the first place). Not only did I pay $300 for the device, I am paying per month(easily twice what the cable company charges for a box with zero up front investment), and this is what I get? Add in the fact that Tivo has become a bit of a PITA to deal with in regard to cable cards and such, and that it doesn't work if I want to switch to satellite, and I am starting to think it may be time to ditch it. My cable company will give me a DVR for $8 a month, with zero up front cost. Yes, it is inferior, but at a point, you have to ask "can I live without Tivo?", and the answer for me at least is yes. And to me the final thing that is bugging me with tivo, is that for all this money I give them, the interface looks like crap, how about a nice HD update, and please, for the love of anything, speed up the interface, the Series 3 HD is abysmally slow.
coyotej @ Apr 6th 2009 1:47PM
Really? What is your cable company charging for a DVR? Last I heard, Comcast was 11.95/mo. for a DVR, and TWC was as high as 18.95/mo.
I believe TiVo is 12.95/mo or less (depending on your payment schedule).
Rowcroft @ Apr 6th 2009 10:19AM
TWC charges $18.95 for a HD DVR box now, so it doesn't take too (for me) long to recover the h/w cost of the Tivo. Add to that the improved UI, show portability (between DVR's & to the PC), and a much better remote. It's "the largest no brainer in the history of earth." (quote from very annoying XM Radio commercial...)
Adam @ Apr 6th 2009 10:37AM
I thought XM radio was supposed to be commercial free?
Josh @ Apr 6th 2009 11:12AM
you are forgetting the $400 you dropped on the hardware - so if you keep your box an average of 3 years, you are paying $30/month for tivo and getting served ads on top of that
twc is still $18 with no ads and on demand functionality
Eric @ Apr 6th 2009 3:06PM
XM has ads on stations like ESPN and Fox News since they already have commercial slots.
I paid $200 for a refurb Tivo HD. I have two Tivo's ($400 in outright cost, $21.90 monthly combined cost). I get a hard (just $) ROI in 25 months. My "soft" ROI (read: better UI, recording portability, view recorded shows in multiple rooms) is immediate.
Deric @ Apr 6th 2009 12:51PM
Interesting - yesterday, I noticed that during a movie preview a TiVo alert box popped on the screen. It offered a link to view more details on the movie --- if only I cared for the movie, I might have checked it out.
As a techie, I liked the integration idea and execution - but lame ads are not what TiVo users are paying monthly for. I guess it's inevitable that ads are going to be everywhere. At least the TiVo DVR works (contrary to all cable dvrs that I've seen).
monkeyrotica @ Apr 6th 2009 10:49AM
Ha! Ha! Ha! F**k you, TiVo. This is why I'm dumping your ass for a HTPC with Plex.
Josh @ Apr 6th 2009 11:10AM
plain and simple, it's complete bull that tivo users need to pay for service and still deal with ads...once you buy the hardware, they only monthly "service" tivo provides is updated program listings, which are free online...i hate tivo
Frankenstein Black @ Apr 6th 2009 11:38AM
Replay TV and auto commercial skip FTW?! So how much is it worth to you to sit and watch a TV show and without touching the remote, have it SKIP COMMERCIALS AUTOMATICALLY? Well?
demon @ Apr 6th 2009 1:08PM
And um, remind me now, how's that HD ReplayTV working out for you? Oh... wait...
Dougp @ Apr 6th 2009 11:40AM
Hey, I will take the ads if this solves the TiVoHD crashing issue that appeared in the last update. I am tired of the TiVo freezing every day!
Darwin Smith @ Apr 6th 2009 12:57PM
It really ticks me off that I still have to see advertisements when using my Tivo that I pay for every month. I don't even have this many advertisements on my Comcast DVR!!
tuzzio @ Apr 6th 2009 12:46PM
Dear Engadget,
Please refrain from the use of crappy 4Chan memes (or crappy memes in general) when attempting to inform people of interesting technological developments. It demeans us all.
(If you don't see it, please take my word for it that it's there, it was intentional, and it should never happen again.)
Dustin @ Apr 6th 2009 5:10PM
Piss off, it was funny. Needs more Xzibit pics
ryanrvogel @ Apr 6th 2009 12:50PM
The big problem with this, which others have already pointed out, is that Tivo is already making money on subscription fees and their greed is causing them to forget the reason people started buying Tivos in the first place.
Sure the UI is still better than every cable company subsidized box, but that's why you're paying $400 up front plus a monthly fee that is pretty close to the cable companies' rental+program fee.
Honestly, Tivo is spitting in the face of all the people who made them a household name with hopes of skipping commercials.
Eh @ Apr 6th 2009 1:37PM
Someone should tell Tivo that their service isnt free
GodCentMe @ Apr 6th 2009 5:30PM
Good for tivo, now if only Verizon Fios would update there UI... Everything's soooo slow!
Quikboy @ Apr 6th 2009 5:39PM
That's making it a good reason to switch to Windows Media Center completely.
FILA @ Apr 6th 2009 8:59PM
I like Elmo and the cookie monster
Joshua @ Apr 6th 2009 11:27PM
This kills me! I pay a service fee and if that isn't enough, charge me more or let me go! The Tivo service that I signed up with had no ads, that is how I justified paying for it over an inferior Comcast or Dish DVR. If they keep throwing extra "features" like this at users, they will go the same way that AOL did when it covered its paid software with ads. If this keeps up I will go back to my supped up mac mini with eyeTV and an HDMI output.
malisp @ Apr 7th 2009 2:26AM
Woo Hoo! Code works on Series2 also!
I've been doing the 30-sec skip trick forever and couldn't live without it. It never occurred to me there'd be a backdoor to get rid of this "new feature". And yes, the ads are annoying compared to the original functionality. The ads + the progress bar took up 1/4 of my screen when pausing or fast forwarding. The only way to get a clean still image was to pause and then manually forward one frame. Getting back to the original functionality has made my sports viewing much less annoying now.
I payed up front for 3 years of service and have received a continually degrading level of service since I signed up. I have less than a year to decide if I'm sticking with them. Tivo needs to decide who their customers are, advertisers or end-users. Think long and hard Tivo, without one the other won't exist...
radio commercials @ Apr 7th 2009 10:16AM
I'm amazed that Tivo is still around. With most cable and sat providers almost giving away dvr's why would one feel the need for a tivo anymore?
Tony
http://www.bestradiocommercials.com
avista @ May 15th 2009 6:18PM
Tivo is whoreing themselves out to the highest paying ad man! With all the other choices out there for DVR'S such as cable and verizon fios and direct tvs and the new MOXI HD DVR tivo is a sinking ship! There are more of the "other dvrs" available and that should prove to all that tivo is not this perfect one and only dvr that every one needs. I personally have two tivos and a cox dvr and recently got a MOXI HD DVR and I love the MOXI the best.