“But TiVo has repeatedly failed to gain traction in the marketplace even though it has been hard at work creating innovative ad solutions and coming up with ways to help advertisers and networks recoup ad dollars.” – Meghan Keane

I’d flip it around – Tivo has failed to gain traction specifically because it’s been hard at work creating innovative ad solutions.

Rather than focusing on replicating the clutter and distraction of broadcast advertising, TiVo should have been focusing on improving the experience of capturing internet-based video ¹. Completely bypassing the confusion of the switch to digital broadcast and making browsing YouTube on your TV as easy as browsing YouTube not on your TV.

Maybe even go so far as offering a box without a TV tuner – internet only.

But they didn’t and like Palm, their lunch was eaten by Apple.

My broadcast TV viewing has dropped precipitously since we purchased the TiVo 3 yrs ago. It’s down to 1 or 2 programs that TiVo rarely captures in any watchable way, and TV via Netflix.

Just yesterday I received an email from TiVo offering me $100 off their HD box – bringing the price down to $200 + service. Will we upgrade when our standard TiVo turns into a doorstop?

Right now, I’d put money on us dropping broadcast TV altogether. It’s not how I see us interacting with video after Feb 2009.

1. TiVo’s Future is in Videoblogs Not in Network Television