TiVo Inc. has launched Program Placement, its latest advertising solution that offers advertisers an opportunity through the TiVo Service to insert an ad after a program has played, when there is nothing left to fast forward through. For the first time, advertisers will be able to reach their target DVR audience by purchasing advertising enhancements against specific shows. Burger King Corporation, General Motors Corp., MasterCard Worldwide, The Weather Channel and Court TV are the first companies to take advantage of Program Placement on TiVo. Leading media and advertising agencies, including GroupM's MindShare, Norwalk, CT-based Media Storm and GSD&M, worked with TiVo to have their clients be the first to use this revolutionary advertising solution.

TiVo's Program Placement is designed to provide a solution for advertisers confronted with the need to reach viewers in DVR homes. Program Placement advertising, inserted at the end of a recorded program for the viewer who chooses to watch it, can be matched to multiple programs, television series and genres.

Advertisers can enhance their television ad buys with long form content, lead generation, and T-commerce tied to programs as part of the product placement ads. Burger King Corporation, for example, is allowing viewers that interact directly with Program Placement to view entertaining, long-format content such as promotional videos for the company's exclusive Xbox 360 game series featuring the King and Subservient Chicken.

"TiVo now can help advertisers effectively engage a target demographic audience while substantially countering the impact of fast-forwarding commercials," said President and CEO of TiVo, Tom Rogers. "This new product allows advertisers to reach the most desired viewers by presenting tags prominently on the TiVo screen displayed at the end of a recorded program."

Additionally, Program Placement advertisements are completely measurable. All clients that use Program Placement will have access to TiVo's extensive audience measurement reporting, including program and commercial viewership research.

TiVo, the creator of and a leader in advertising solutions and television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), adds Program Placement to its already extensive stable of advertising solutions, including, TiVo's Gold Star Sponsorship, Interactive Tags, Custom Applications and Product Watch.

"TiVo is for the time-starved and so is quick service dining, so this is the perfect way to use engaging, creative content to reach a like-minded audience that is already very accustomed to personalization and convenience," said Gillian Smith, senior director of media and interactive, Burger King Corporation. "That is exactly what HAVE IT YOUR WAY is all about."

"Innovative products such as TiVo's Program Placement provide new avenues to communicate useful, relevant information to consumers about GM cars and trucks in a more targeted, measurable way. In today's shifting media landscape, it's vital for advertisers, media companies, content providers and technology leaders such as TiVo to work together to provide solutions that benefit all of us," said Betsy Lazar, executive director, Advertising and Media Operations, for General Motors Corp.

The Weather Channel, a client of Media Storm, is introducing two of its dynamic meteorologists, Stephanie Abrams and Mike Bettes, and showcasing their reporting, as background for a new program, "Abrams & Bettes," in Program Placement advertisements that will appear at the end of certain top programming.

"The Weather Channel is always interested in new ways to reach and impress viewers. This unique opportunity lets us present the drama and spectacle of weather to viewers of some of TV's top programs, broadening their perception of our brand," said Lynn Brindell, Senior Vice President, Marketing, The Weather Channel.

"TiVo is a great example of the emerging media landscape, where the viewer is in control of entertainment content and when he or she views it. We make it our business to find the best ways to keep our clients in step with this growing but hard to reach viewer segment," said Craig Woerz, co-founder and managing partner of Media Storm. "TiVo Program Placement begs for the need to captivate this passionate audience with a new engaging form of advertising. For the DVR audience, the traditional embedded 30-second spot has been lost to the fast-forward button. That said it's not all over for advertisers. TiVo Program Placement provides a new frontier and Media Storm is pleased to blaze it on behalf of our clients with a fresh approach of brand sampling that we believe will resonate with the TiVo audience."