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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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You Skipping Ads? TiVo Plans to Sell That Info

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(Newser) – Watch out Nielsen, here comes TiVo. The company that allows you to skip ads and store shows on its digital video recorder plans to sell your viewing habits to stations and advertisers, USA Today reports. Unlike Nielsen, TiVo can sell second-by-second breakdowns of the shows and ads people watch. But its privacy policies strop it from collecting data available to Nielsen, like demographic breakdowns.

"Is it a be-all and end-all?" one ad buyer asked. "We'll have to look at it and see." A TiVo manager admitted that its 3.3 million users are more educated, affluent, "and, unfortunately, a little more white" than the average American TV-watcher, but "it isn't a gigantic difference." TiVo declined to reveal a pricing plan for the new venture, which will sell national viewing data and info on local markets.

A man walks by a display of TiVo boxes at the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show January 6, 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
A man walks by a display of TiVo boxes at the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show January 6, 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada.   (Getty Images)
A man looks at a Tivo display at the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show January 6, 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
A man looks at a Tivo display at the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show January 6, 2005 in Las Vegas, Nevada.   (Getty Images)
A TiVo Stop||Watch graph depicts viewership across the course of the Super Bowl on a second-by-second basis.
A TiVo Stop||Watch graph depicts viewership across the course of the Super Bowl on a second-by-second basis.   (AP Photo)
A TiVo box.
A TiVo box.   (AP Photo)
Tom Rogers, CEO of TiVo, attends the opening bell at the Nasdaq stock market.
Tom Rogers, CEO of TiVo, attends the opening bell at the Nasdaq stock market.   (AP Photo)
In this May 28, 2008 file photo, TiVo digital video recorders are seen on display at Best Buy in Mountain View, Calif.
In this May 28, 2008 file photo, TiVo digital video recorders are seen on display at Best Buy in Mountain View, Calif.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file)
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1 comment
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Blackbird
Apr 20, 09 7:01 PM CDT
What? I can't believe that they have not already been using that information. Reply
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