Comcast, TiVo work for fresh ads

SAN FRANCISCO — Comcast Corp. is working with TiVo Inc. on an advertising system that will insert new, updated commercials into previously recorded programs, the company said.

Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts told cable executives this week that under such a system, programs that were recorded weeks ago on a TiVo digital video recorder (DVR) would have old commercials replaced with new ones.

The system could also take into account viewer patterns to make ads more targeted and relevant, Roberts explained.

Philadelphia-based Comcast, the country’s largest cable company, announced last month it would start offering TiVo’s DVRs by 2006.

The new technology could help make DVRs more accepted by TV networks, which fear they’ll lose advertising revenue because DVRs allow viewers to fast-forward past commercials in recorded shows.

“In the long term, advertising is going to be a big winner,” Roberts said. “They’re going to get more bang for the buck.”

Larry Page, co-founder of Google, warned that the change will be hard. Advertising on Google has from the beginning aimed to be relevant, he said.

Another Internet executive, America Online chief executive Jonathan Miller, agreed.

“Advertising is going from being an involuntary service to being a voluntary service … that puts a high bar on relevance and other things,” he said.

Separately, TiVo and satellite broadcaster DirecTV Group Inc. Tuesday said they have signed a deal to let both companies sell advertising for TiVo recorders. The DVRs recently began showing static images, such as company logos, when fast-forwarding some shows.