OpenTV Like TiVo on Steroids

Davis Freeberg writes "Davis Freeberg and Thomas Hawk recently interviewed OpenTV about some of the more progressive programming that they are offering to viewers outside of North America. Specifically, they have created a PVR that allows users to not only choose from 4 - 8 video angles, but even more importantly consumers can choose what audio feed they would prefer. Recently they miked up some drunk hooligans during a rugby match in Austrailia and cable customers could choose which commentator they prefered. Of course this functionality doesn't come without a cost. In exchange for interactive games, karaoke and multiple HDTV streams, they collect data on the viewing habits of their users and then digitally insert 30 second ads based upon the demographics of their customers. While I'm not sure if this is good or bad, I do believe that this will be the future of television advertising. While we haven't seen this type of a privacy policy introduced in the U.S. yet, I'm sure that the PVR industry has taken notice of the willingness of Aussies to give up privacy rights for the ability to time shift televison. "

Comments

I like the idea

[Medieval_Thinker]

This has potential, but I think the "open" in the name is a misnomer...

Go for it!

[ucahg]

I'm not opposed to personalized advertising. I don't see what the fuss is about really. Who cares if an advertising company has on record my TV viewing preferences?

Maybe it would stop me from receiving tampon and ED commercials.

No Problem

[kevin_conaway]

If I'm subscribing to their service, they already know what I'm watching because they're pushing it through the wire!

I see no harm in using that data to show ads that are relevant to the genre of programming I'm watching. To me, it seems better to advertise athletic gear and sports drinks during a football game than tampons and depends undergarments.

Context sensitive advertising seems to be the way to go as long as its not overly intrusive. They have a right to make money after all and if people aren't willing to pay with their dollars, then they'll have to pay with their eyeballs.

Privacy or not, just don't buy the stuff advertise

[Antony-Kyre]

Privacy or not, just don't buy the stuff advertised. It's not like anyone is forcing you to buy anything, right?

And here's a thought. Do "they" have the right to discriminate their commercial advertisements based on the individual they are broadcasting to? Could that be unfair because someone else is getting different television programming than you are, yet you are paying for the same service?

Demographic collection

[bokmann]

I have no problem with a service colleting my demographic information, as long as I understand and agree on how they use it, without any bull crap like "Terms of service may change without notice".

Using my demographics to give me more ads for computers, sci-fi shows, and other things that match my interest is a better use of my time than commercials for Massingil's latest lemon-scented douche.

Using my demongraphic information to increase my car insurance rates, on the other hand, would not make me happy.

multiple angles?

[justforaday]

Just a question regarding the multiple angles thing. Is this really going to get used? I mean, DVDs have had this feature since day one. I've only ever seen one disc that actually used the feature, and it was some pr0n movie. And I gotta tell you, watching people shuffle around the background during the filming of a pr0n shoot, though funny, doesn't make for a better viewing experience. Let's also not forget about the increased production costs to do this for more, umm, legitimate shows/movies. Sports are about the only thing this is good for, both from viewer and production points of view (har har).