Nielsen to measure TiVo usage

ny_cable_guy writes "The following letter went out to all of Nielsen's clients this morning: 'Working together, Nielsen Media Research and TiVo have developed software that will enable the extraction of tuning, recording and playback information from TiVo's PVR system. TiVo has downloaded this new software as part of a normal system upgrade via phone lines to existing TiVo subscribers across the country. This software would be used only by Nielsen Media Research to retrieve data from sample households, and only with permission from the household, as is the case with all homes in our samples. It is otherwise inactive in non-Nielsen homes.' The full letter has been reprinted here on netWert."

Comments

Trust

[Rick the Red]

Why is it that I trust Nielsen when they say, "This software would be used only by Nielsen Media Research to retrieve data from sample households, and only with permission from the household, as is the case with all homes in our samples," but if this news came from TiVo I'd scream for help ripping the code out of my box?

Re:Good application of the TiVO

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

Hah. I must be really strange, because no one seems to agree with me.

A truly good application, would be one that let you "mark" commercials with the thumbs down button, and from that point on, Tivo would recognize the commercial and clip it out of recording AND display.

How? Well, first off, don't be a retard... refuse to subscribe. Then, if you need to, download an image of the 1.3 software, and install it. (Sorry, but the new software sucks) Then, build a crosscompiler for your linux box.

Now, how can software like this work? When you press the button, the tivo would work backward, looking for the mostly black frames that signal a wipe or transition. Once found, it forwards again, to the first few frames of the commercial, and creates a signature for them. Then, every time a new transition occurs, check if its a commercial.

And yes, I am working on it.

Voila, advertisers are put back in their proper place, a dank little hole in the ground.

Fuck you, marketdroids!

Make a TiVo?

[Apocalypse111]

I know its a little off topic, but is there a way to put together some hardware on a spare box, download the TiVo kernel onto it, and make your own TiVo, complete with the cool GUI? Getting the remote stuff might be a little difficult, but just include some mouse drivers and you're all good (you'd already be including drivers for all the stuff already in the box that isn't TiVo standard, so why not?).