Tivo Offers Ad Placement Service

TiVo(TIVO - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) is offering a fix to one of the biggest problem advertisers face: how to reach television viewers who skip commercials on their TiVo boxes.

The digital video recorder maker has launched a new service called Program Placement that offers advertisers an opportunity to insert an ad after a program has played, when there is nothing left to fast forward through. Advertisers will be able to purchase enhancements against specific shows.

The Program Placement ad inserted at the end of a recorded program can be matched to multiple programs, television series and genres, said TiVo.

"TiVo now can help advertisers effectively engage a target demographic audience while substantially countering the impact of fast-forwarding commercials," said President and CEO Tom Rogers in a press release.

Already a few big-name advertisers have lined up for the service: Burger King(BKC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), General Motors(GM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), and MasterCard Worldwide(MA - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) are among the first companies to sign on.

Recently, TiVo said it will let subscribers transfer broadband video from their PC to their television sets, even if those videos didn't originate in a television format.

The company will announce its quarterly results on Wednesday. Shares of TiVo have been down 21% in the three months since Aug. 28.

Shares of TiVo were recently off 10 cents, or 1.6%, to $6.16.