(12 November 2007 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Media planning and buying company Starcom USA has partnered with TiVo for the Power Watch Consumer Panel.

This is a new offering from Tivo which provides advertisers access to demographic and viewing behavior data for 20,000 households who volunteer to take part in a consumer panel.

Tivo VP, GM, audience research and measurement Todd Juenger says, "With 20,000 households, the Power Watch Consumer Panel will provide a new level of detail on DVR viewing behaviour among any given brand's target segments that will significantly enhance the approach advertisers take in creating and buying advertising on television."

TiVo recruited 20,000 households to opt-in to the viewership panel. Because these subscribers have opted in, TiVo can associate household data with the viewership data, and hence will be able to produce program and commercial viewership reports which can be looked at by aggregate demographic and behavioral audience groups. All data remains completely
anonymous.

Starcom USA senior VP/Video Innovation director Tracey Scheppach says, "The Power Watch Consumer Panel is a landmark step in gaining deeper insights into audience behavior in the growing world of DVR based television consumption and how best to earn the attention of consumers in a time shifted world.

"Tivo's data is unique in terms of what is available in the market today and we will finally be able to answer important questions about viewer composition and viewing patterns over time."

With the roll-out of the Power Watch Consumer Panel, Tivo's Stop Watch ratings service subscribers will have the ability to purchase custom segmentations to look at TV viewing based on how consumers have responded to their proprietary sponsored questions.

Tivo will be conducting a quarterly omnibus survey of Power Watch panelists. While Starcom has the exclusive access to the first study, all Stop Watch clients can participate in these surveys with their own sets of questions.

Starcom USA president / chief activation officer Chris Boothe says, "Accountability is one of the most important issues facing marketers and agencies today and harnessing the power of second-by-second data is a critical piece of a better measurement system.

"Starcom is excited to further partner with Tivo to help put our clients at the leading edge of the television marketplace."

The Power Watch Consumer Panel will also include more Tivo-centric measures such as number of Tivo's in a household, tenure of TiVo subscriber, broadband versus dial-up connectivity as well as signal type ranging from analog cable, digital cable, satellite or over-the-air.

Tivo will continue to add additional dimensions over time to the syndicated Power Watch service. Starcom was also the first agency network to sign-up for Tivo's Stop Watch ratings service, a second-by-second programme and commercial ratings research service designed to better understand time shifted viewing.