(21 January 2008 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Tivo, which creates ad solutions and television services for DVRs in the US, has announced that Euro RSCG in the US has subscribed to its second-by-second content ratings research products.

Using Tivo's Stop Watch service, Euro RSCG will have access to the industry's only second-by-second measurement of programme and specific commercial ratings for both live and time-shifted viewing in DVR households. In addition, as a subscriber to the Stop Watch service, the agency will be able to utilise the Power Watch Consumer Panel, which will complement audience research with demographic information such as age, gender and income, drawn from an opt-in panel of 20,000 Tivo subscribers who have voluntarily provided this data.

Euro RSCG executive creative director of media, Richard Notarianni said, "DVR penetration is only going to increase in the years ahead. It is our job to not only develop the most creative and impactful advertising campaigns for our clients, but to understand the way the messages are viewed and received by the target audience.

"Tivo's data offers perhaps the best real-world insight into the effectiveness of our campaigns. DVR viewers have total control of their viewing experience. Understanding what commercials, and which parts of commercials, they choose
to watch, as well as under what circumstances, gives us a competitive edge in creating and deploying campaigns that really resonate for our clients."

Tivo VP and GM (audience research and measurement) Todd Juenger said, "We welcome Euro RSCG New York, an important member of the agency's global network, to the steadily growing community of influential advertisers, advertising agencies and television networks that have embraced Tivo's powerful audience research services.

"Because the DVR is becoming a 'must have' in US households, it has become even more critical for all of those involved in the industry to not only understand the challenges they face in this new DVR era, but to be willing to embrace solutions such as ours designed to help them think strategically, problem solve and gauge the impact DVRs are having on their
programmes and commercials."

The Tivo Stop Watch data is derived from a daily, anonymous, stratified random sample of 20,000 TiVo units - from which the
second-by-second "clickstream" of behaviour and viewership is collected and assessed.

The Tivo Power Watch service, which will be available to all Stop Watch subscribers, is based on a customer opt-in viewership panel from 20,000 households who have voluntarily provided demographic data (which is reported on an aggregate, anonymous basis).