Press release

Top 10 Commercials Aired During Season Finale of House, June’s Highest Ranked Episode

Commercial Ratings Varied Substantially Despite Airing During the Same Episode 

ALVISO, Calif. — August 13, 2007 — TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in advertising solutions and television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), today announced its Top Commercial Rankings for June, as viewed by TiVo subscribers.

Categories tracked using TiVo’s Stop||Watch™ ratings service include Top Total Viewing Commercials compared with Total Viewing of Top Programs; Timeshifted Commercials compared with Timeshifted Programs; and Least Fast-forwarded Brand Campaigns.

Following is the June data:

June -- Top Commercials v. Top Program Episodes (Total Viewing)

• June was dominated by two season finales, House and Boston Legal, in late-May (classified as the June broadcast month), followed by Dateline’s interview with Prince William and Prince Harry - all other programming was either re-runs or summer fare.
• Since the finale of House had a bigger audience than any other program, the Top 10 commercials all appeared during this episode (unlike April and May, where the Top 10 spots were distributed across numerous programs).
• Wendy’s Restaurant and AT&T Wireless have each made the Top 10 list two out of three months.
• While a majority of the Top Commercials on June’s list aired in the first or last pod position, it is worth noting that there was a wide variance in their viewership.

June -- Top Commercials v. Top Program Episodes (Timeshifted Viewing)

• The list of Top 10 Timeshifted commercials was identical to the list of Top 10 Total commercials, although the order differed.
•  AT&T Wireless is the only brand to make the Top 10 Timeshifted list two months in a row.
•  The proportion of Timeshifted viewing to Total viewing is quite high for the Top 10 program episodes.  For example, the top show on both lists, the June 29 episode of House, had a Total rating of 17.7 and a Timeshifted rating of 12.4, indicating that approximately 70% of the viewership was on a Timeshifted basis. 
•  All of the programs that made both lists had greater than 59% of viewing on Timeshifted basis.
•  The June 13 episode of Dateline, #3 in Total Viewership, did not make the top Timeshifted list, which is consistent with generally low amounts of Timeshifted viewing for news-oriented programming.

June – Least Fast-Forwarded Brand Campaigns

A few brands have distinguished themselves by making the “Least Fast-Forwarded” list (all measured networks, daytime & primetime) on multiple occasions: Dominican Republic tourism placed in the Top 5 for both May and June Tax Masters placed in the Top 10 for both May and June, and OnStar made the Top 10 two out of three months (April and June).

• In May, three films made the Primetime Top 10, whereas in June Harry Potter was the only movie on the list.
• Recall in April, several direct response ads made the Top 10 least fast-forwarded list (all measured networks, daytime & primetime), but this was not repeated in May.  In June, a direct response ad appeared for the first time in the Top 10 list for Primetime on Broadcast nets, with Bowflex debuting in the #1 position.
• Pod position did not play a role in whether or not a brand campaign made June’s Least Fast-Forwarded list – all campaigns had a normal distribution of pod position rotation. 

“It is important to note that just because all of the top commercials in June aired during the same show, doesn't mean they all had the same rating,” said Todd Juenger, Vice President & General Manager, TiVo Audience Research & Measurement.  “For example, an advertiser who uses the average rating (9.8% total, 4.7% Timeshifted) as a measure of viewership for their spot could be dramatically over- or under-estimating their true viewership.” Juenger noted that for Timeshifted viewing, the average commercial across the entire show had an audience of 4.7%, but when broken down into 5 pods, or, further, into individual spot shows the ratings ranged from 3.6% to 7.2% and 3.2% to 7.3%, respectively.

Following is the range of ratings for commercials within the May 29 episode of House:

•  Commercial Ratings - Total Viewing:

Highest: Wendy's Restaurant, 12.1

Lowest: Gatorade RTS Beverage, 8.4

Difference: 44%

•  Commercial Ratings - Timeshifted Viewing:

Highest: AT&T Wireless Service, 7.3

Lowest: Tresseme Thermal Hair Cartons, 3.2

Difference: 128%

“The results speak for themselves -- even within one program episode, viewers are using their remotes to vote for their favorite ads,” said Juenger. 

Last month, TiVo unveiled the industry’s first Top Commercial Rankings reports which were generated using TiVo’s Stop||Watch service’s unique ability to track consumer viewing behavior on a second-by-second basis, in both Live and Timeshifted viewing context.

The Stop||Watch ratings service, introduced in February 2007, is offered via an easily sortable database of ratings for nationally run programs and advertisements in primetime and daytime, with data going back to September 2006. Each month the Stop||Watch ratings service will issue the standard “Top” lists as well as special analyses of interest, (e.g. top lists by program genre, network, or product category). Subscribers to the Stop||Watch ratings service include Starcom USA, the Interpublic Group of Companies, Media IQ, and MPMA.

TiVo Stop||Watch ratings service data is derived from a daily, aggregate, anonymous, stratified random sample of 20,000 TiVo units – from which the second-by-second “clickstream” of behavior and viewership is collected and assessed.  The Stop||Watch service includes data for: Total Viewing, Live Viewing, Timeshifted Viewing (less than 1 hour, 1-6 hours, 6-24 hours, 24-48 hours, 2-7 day, and 7-14 day delay), Program Ratings, Commercial Ratings and a Commercial Viewership Index.  The Stop||Watch service uses ad occurrence data from TNS Media Intelligence to identify commercial spots.  For more information on the TiVo Stop||Watch ratings service, visit https://stopwatch.tivo.com .

About TiVo Inc.

Founded in 1997, TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO) pioneered a brand new category of products with the development of the first commercially available digital video recorder (DVR). Sold through leading consumer electronic retailers, TiVo has developed a brand which resonates boldly with consumers as providing a superior television experience. Through agreements with leading satellite and cable providers, TiVo also integrates its DVR service features into the set-top boxes of mass distributors. TiVo’s DVR functionality and ease of use, with such features as Season Pass™ recordings, WishList® searches, and TiVo® KidZone, have elevated its popularity among consumers and have created a whole new way for viewers to watch television. With a continued investment in its patented technologies, TiVo is revolutionizing the way consumers watch and access home entertainment. Rapidly becoming the focal point of the digital living room, TiVo’s DVR is at the center of experiencing new forms of content on the TV, such as broadband delivered video, music and photos. With innovative features, such as TiVoToGo™ transfers and online scheduling, TiVo is expanding the notion of consumers experiencing “TiVo, TV your way.®” The TiVo® service is also at the forefront of providing innovative marketing solutions for the television industry, including a unique platform for advertisers and audience measurement research. The company is based in Alviso, Calif.

TiVo, Stop||Watch, Season Pass, WishList, Series2, Series3, TiVoToGo, ‘TiVo, TV your way’ and the TiVo Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of TiVo Inc. or its subsidiaries worldwide. © 2007 TiVo Inc. All rights reserved.

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Contacts:         

Whit Clay

For TiVo Inc.

(212) 446-1864

wclay@sloanepr.com