CBS struck a deal with digital-video-recorder supplier TiVo to use its Stop||Watch syndicated media-measurement service, following the lead of NBC Universal and large advertising concerns such as Interpublic, Starcom and Carat USA.
Stop||Watch uses a daily, anonymous, stratified random sample of 20,000 TiVo units to provide second-by-second measurement of program and specific commercial ratings for both live and time-shifted viewing. CBS will use it to gauge the behavior of DVR viewers and develop new strategies to serve its advertising clients.
"As more and more television viewers add the DVR to their home entertainment systems and make the transition from linear to nonlinear viewers, we at the networks must adapt to serve both these newly empowered viewers and the advertisers seeking to communicate with them," CBS chief research officer David Poltrack said in a statement.
"TiVo, through its user database and its innovative Stop||Watch research software, offers us the opportunity to analyze television-viewing behavior and develop strategies to maximize the impact of our advertisers' messages and product-placement arrangements in this new nonlinear viewing environment,” he added. “We also look forward to working with TiVo in the utilization of this research resource to enhance our program promotion and to gathering valuable feedback concerning the performance of these programs."
