While many TV companies are attacking new technology and seeing it as a threat, CBS seems to be one company that is beginning to stand out as making the most out of new technology for promotion.CBS recently received press coverage for signing a deal with YouTube to allow some of its content to be legally shown on YouTube. CBS was subsequently happy with the increased promotion for its shows.
Now CBS has cut a deal with TiVo to actually encourage TiVo users to record its shows. That's pretty extreme considering most TV networks cringe at the idea of having their programs recorded and the adverts skipped.
From February 6th TiVo will embed interactive tags for two weeks to encourage TiVo users to record CBS' entire new Monday-night lineup. In addition to this TiVo users can view sneak previews of new CBS comedy Rules of Engagement and crime drama Criminal Minds.
1. I wish every network would add tags...its so much more convenient to "Press Thumbs-Up to Record" when I see a show promo that I like, than having to pause my program, go to the show scheduler, find the show(hopefully), and set a new season pass. In fact, I think TiVo would be smart to offer this capability to the networks for free, to encourage its use (and thus help TiVo differentiate it from the other PVR services). In any case, this move gets three Thumbs Up from me! ;)
Posted at 5:08PM on Jan 26th 2007 by Dave