How a product placement strategy worked for Yahoo

NEW YORK - Following high-impact results with its product placement in last year's The Apprentice, Yahoo rejoined Mark Burnett Productions and Donald Trump again this year to promote its Local Search service.

The move is of interest because it dramatically demonstrates the effectiveness of a product-placement campaign designed to sell a difficult-to-explain online service. Yahoo's local search is a special tier of search that functions much like a local yellow pages index to individual merchants in given metro markets across the U.S.

"The experience proved that you can take TV impressions and turn it into user engagement online, and then send the viewers to brick-and-mortar stores to make a purchase," said Jim Moloshok, senior vice president of entertainment and content relationships at Yahoo.

Read the article: www.adage.com

Nissan steers 24-minute ad towards younger market

Nissan is to launch its latest range of cars with a pioneering 24-minute TV advert that will be broadcast in a series of soap-like episodes.

The Japanese car manufacturer is hoping the new approach will help transform its image among younger viewers as a manufacturer of uncool cars.

The car maker is sponsoring the cult drama 24 on Sky One in the hope of catching the attention of its target market of early adopters. Unusually, Nissan is not putting the advert on terrestrial TV as part of its attempt to be cool.

In a £1.5m deal, Nissan will sponsor 24 and two other flagship dramas on Sky One, breaking up each episode of the advert to use as sponsorship idents during ad breaks.

"The desired consumer response we are looking for is for the target audience to say, 'There's something going on with Nissan'," said Paul Willcox, the marketing director of Nissan UK.

"Running it on [terrestrial] TV just because it's a good creative execution doesn't work with our target audience."

Read the article: www.media.guardian.co.uk

Mastercard expands Branded Entertainment efforts

NEW YORK - MasterCard International expanded its branded-entertainment efforts last night with its first foray into scripted drama, a tie-in with the WB network's teen drama One Tree Hill.

The deal included three appearances during the episode (the card's logo is seen in one restaurant and characters twice use a MasterCard debit card as part of the plot) as well as a sweepstakes promotion tied to the release of the show's first season on DVD. Buyers who use MasterCard to purchase the DVD and CD of the show's sound track get a poster and are entered in a contest to win a chance to win a trip to the show's set.

MasterCard has done tie-ins before, but mainly with nonfiction programming such as A&E's Biography series and documentary programs on the History Channel, linked to the sale of show DVDs, said Betty Pat McCoy, senior vice president and director of national broadcast buying at Omnicom Group's GSD&M, Chicago, MasterCard's media agency.

Read the article: www.adage.com

Movie placement creates demand for non-existent shoe

LOS ANGELES - The unpaid inclusion of a nonexistent Adidas shoe in the movie The Life Aquatic has sparked a brisk consumer demand for the product.

This custom-made version of the Adidas 'Zissou' is now for sale on eBay. Other Web sites provide instructions for making your own Zissous.

After teaming up with director Wes Anderson on The Royal Tenenbaums, Adidas allowed the filmmaker to modify pairs of its shoes to fit the wardrobe needs of the characters in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. In the film, Team Zissou, a group of deep-sea explorers, wears pairs of Adidas sneakers with blue and aqua stripes, bright yellow laces and "Zissou" stitched along the side.

The shoe is said in the movie to have hit retailers in 1987 and was named for the film's lead character, played by Bill Murray. In actuality, the shoe shown is an altered version of a 1959 Adidas training sneaker called the ROM, which was updated in 1979 but is no longer in production.

Adidas didn't pay distributor Buena Vista to appear in the film. Neither did it co-promote the project. It also had no plans to even produce the shoes for the public.

The company may be starting to reconsider that idea, however.

Moviegoers have inundated Adidas with requests on where to buy the shoes, with customers showing up at the company's retail stores ready to purchase a pair. The company's consumer relations department has been receiving hundreds of phone calls and e-mails from desperate Team Zissou sneaker seekers. Online petitions have also hit the Internet and collected over 600 signatures. Homemade versions have been listed on eBay.

Read the article: www.adage.com

Mattel alters toy marketing strategy, uses online game to offset TV erosion

On the eve of the kids TV advertising upfront, toy maker Mattel announced plans to market its new BattleX toy line largely on the basis of an online game, as well as a series of animations produced and hosted by online game producer www.Shockwave.com.

The game, which hit stores earlier this month, features the toys, which are futuristic combat vehicles that battle in a competitive arena setting. Players can upgrade their vehicles' weapons, fight other contestants, and participate in bonus rounds. The play of the computer game closely matches the play of the physical toy, said Doug Wadleigh, the vice president of marketing for Hot Wheels.

The strategy is a telling one, because marketers like Mattel historically have launched new toy lines primarily on the basis of heavy TV advertising schedules.

In addition to the online game, Shockwave also produced a series of four brief animations that tell the back-story of the video game and toys, and feature a young BattleX pilot struggling to make it in the futuristic sport. In addition to being available on the Web sites, the game and the animations are also available in DVD-format packaged with the toy itself.

Read the article: www.mediapost.com

Google launches TV search service

The net search giant Google has launched a search service that lets people look for TV programmes.

The service, Google Video beta, searches closed caption information that comes with programmes. It only searches US channel content currently.

Results list programmes with still images and text from the point where the search phrase was spoken.

It should expand over time to include content from more channels, said a Google spokesperson.

The first version of the service is part of Google's expanding efforts to be a ubiquitous search engine for people to find what they want on the web and beyond.

"We think TV is a big part of people's lives," said Jonathan Rosenberg, Google's vice president of product management.

"Ultimately, we would like to have all TV programming indexed."

Read the article: www.news.bbc.co.uk

Pirates set their sites

Fans of The West Wing who cannot wait for the new series to roll out on Channel 4 can go online to feed their need. The acclaimed US show is one of a growing number of American and British TV series available to download via the internet as the "content pirates", fresh from taking on record companies and Hollywood, eye a new target.

Unauthorised online distribution of TV programmes is on the rise, and this month the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) launched a European legal campaign to combat this latest form of TV distribution. But, as the American TV industry mobilises its defences, British broadcasters remain undecided on the level of threat posed to their businesses and how to respond.

Piracy is nothing new. But just as VHS counterfeiting gave way to unauthorised copying of CDs and DVDs, so illegal content downloading has moved centre stage. The first target was music, which could be downloaded quickly and easily. Rapidly evolving technology, however, now enables longer content - TV shows and films - to be downloaded faster than ever. An internet trawl reveals dozens of shows - from Friends spin-off Joey, which launches in the UK on Five next month, to Desperate Housewives and 24 along with Channel 4's Shameless, BBC 1's According to Bex and Five's Fifth Gear - listed on sites as "available".

The problem for broadcasters is that if viewers download programmes in significant numbers they may do so instead of watching the same shows on broadcast channels, so potentially undermining the advertiser-funded business model on which most of today's commercial TV channels are built. Meanwhile, advance viewing of imported TV programmes ahead of their official UK TV broadcast reduces the value of the rights British broadcasters pay for hit shows.

Last November Peter Chernin, chief operating officer of Fox in the US, spoke out against "digital thievery" and the threat posed to broadcasters by illegal file-sharing of TV shows. Many British TV companies seem less anxious. An ITV spokesperson observes: "As we've little acquired programming we just don't see this as a significant problem." Channel 4 says it is "monitoring" the situation. Five, meanwhile, was unaware of Joey's availability online to British downloaders and is "a bit sketchy" on BitTorrent. But Five's head of legal compliance, Paul Chinnery, says while it does not see piracy as a huge problem it is committed to legally challenging anyone making money out of illicitly exploiting copyright content. "We need to think about a strategy for this now," Chinnery says. "If people steal, which effectively piracy is, it drains money out of the creative industry and undermines broadcasters' willingness to pay for new creative work. It's a form of theft that can only have an adverse impact on the TV industry."

Read the article: www.media.guardian.co.uk

Film-makers to showcase in ITV 'CobraVision'

Aspiring film-makers now have an unusual route to getting their short films on television after Cobra beer clinched a £1m sponsorship deal with ITV2 and ITV3.

The deal, announced today, will see the micro films that win the "CobraVision" contest appearing during idents for the British Asian brand, which is sponsoring films that appear on the two channels.

The company hopes to attract student film-makers and people who just want to have a go to make a 50-second micro film that can be split into 10 five-second episodes, which will be shown during the sponsorship billboards at the start of each adbreak.

"CobraVision is an initiative to support and encourage creativity and film-making in the UK, and the first of its kind in broadcast, media or advertising history," said Karan Bilimoria, the founder of Cobra Beer.

"This initiative provides aspiring artists and directors the opportunity to showcase their work to a wide audience through the Cobra/ITV partnership."

The deal is the single biggest for ITV2 and the first for ITV3 movies, and also marks Cobra's first foray into television channel sponsorship.

Read the article: www.media.guardian.co.uk

Burger King takes a product from TV to the table

Talk about fast food. The sandwich developed for Burger King by the winning team on the episode of "The Apprentice" that ran last night on NBC will go on sale today at 7,800 restaurants around the country.

The addition of the Western Angus Steak Burger sandwich to the Burger King menu underscores how the integration of sponsors into episodes of "The Apprentice" is being intensified as the series starts its third season. The goal of brands like Burger King in affiliating with "The Apprentice," normally shown on Thursday nights, is to stimulate product sales over busy shopping weekends as well as to generate interest and word-of-mouth around the water cooler on Friday mornings.

"Commercializing this in almost 8,000 restaurants was attractive to us from the outset," said Russ Klein, the chief marketing officer of Burger King, which is based in Miami and owned by a consortium led by the Texas Pacific Group.

"Our first reaction was that it would be an opportunity to create a 360-degree event," Mr. Klein said, "as viewers see this unfold overnight from their living rooms to the Burger Kings near them."

The sandwich, a variation on the Angus Steak Burger introduced by Burger King last year, will be sold for two weeks (or while supplies last, as retailers say) for a suggested price of $3.49 each. The sandwich is being promoted in commercials on NBC that began last night during "The Apprentice." The spots are created by the Burger King agency, Crispin Porter & Bogusky in Miami. The campaign also includes posters, signs and other materials in the restaurants, bearing photographs of the series host, Donald J. Trump, and headlines like "As seen on 'The Apprentice.' "

Major brands sponsoring the third season of the series - in addition to Burger King they include Dove Body Wash, Sony PlayStation, Verizon Wireless and Visa - are each paying an estimated $2 million to $2.5 million to be incorporated into the plot lines of each episode.

The brands become the focus of the task the competing teams must perform to win the weekly challenges. The amounts spent compare with an estimated $1 million or more for each of the second-season sponsors, which included Hasbro, Levi Strauss, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and Toys "R" Us.

Read the article: www.nytimes.com

Peer-to-peer nets 'here to stay'

Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks are here to stay, and are on the verge of being exploited by commercial media firms, says a panel of industry experts.
Once several high-profile legal cases against file-sharers are resolved this year, firms will be very keen to try and make money from P2P technology.

The expert panel probed the future of P2P at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier in January.

Read the article: www.news.bbc.co.uk

New videos threaten TV drama

The growing popularity of personal video recorders that allow viewers to skip advertising breaks will damage the business model of commercial broadcasters and threaten investment in genres such as drama and comedy, according to research.

In homes with personal video recorders such as Sky Plus, 77% of ad breaks are skipped during the 42% of shows that are recorded.

The study, compiled by media buying agency PHD and due to be unveiled today at the Oxford Media Convention, predicts that by the end of the decade there will be an 8.7% decline in commercial "impacts" - the number of times any one advert is viewed.

The research showed that while viewers with PVR technology were likely to watch news, sport and soaps live, the majority of them would record comedy, classic movies and drama serials to watch later.

Because these genres are then likely to attract less advertising, and are more costly to produce in the first place, Ms Alps will argue that regulatory intervention will remain essential to keep broadcasters committed while advertisers will have to consider funding more programming.

Read the article: www.media.guardian.co.uk

As media shifts from 'mass' to 'micro,' marketers, agencies move to embed

The media marketplace in 2005 will transformed by a "steady disappearance of the 'mass' market, replaced by an ever-growing number of 'micro' markets that cater to the needs of specific groups or individuals," predicts Tony Kern, deputy managing partner of Deloitte's Technology, Media and Telecommunications practice in a media industry report released by the group late Tuesday. "New devices and media will flourish, along with new forms of advertising, including embedded advertisements in video games, software, and even mobile phones."

Deloitte also predicts a steady migration of print media to digital platforms, echoing a sentiment made last year by Aegis Group, which predicted that half of all media would be digital by 2007.

"An ever-increasing number of print publications and niche journals will be available in electronic form over the internet. And more and more people will express their opinions to the world through blogs and wikis," predicts Deloitte.

These shifts will accelerate the trend toward embedded advertising strategies, including text hyperlinks, software toolbar buttons, on browsers and mobile phones, as well as in-game advertising in videogames.

"These ads will be very precisely targeted as advertisers learn more about each group of consumers," predicts Deloitte, noting, "They will be dynamic, updated via an internet connection based on time of day and user activity, and they will need to be far more subtle and sophisticated and less intrusive than the banner ads and pop-ups that currently plague the internet, in order for consumers to accept them."

Read the article: www.mediapost.com

Disney plans to mix ads, video games to target kids, teens

NEW YORK — To reach kids and teens to promote Disneyland's 50th anniversary this year, Walt Disney Co. will use one of the hottest — and most controversial — gimmicks in the media business: "advergaming."

Advergaming is when companies put ad messages in Web-based or video games. Sometimes the entire game amounts to a virtual commercial for a TV show or product. Sometimes advertisers sponsor games; sometimes they buy ad space integrated into them.

The online arcades put up by advertisers that include Disney, Viacom's Nickelodeon and even the U.S. Army rival titles from the $10 billion video game industry in entertainment value and high-tech expertise.

As part of an 18-month global campaign that kicks off on May 5, Disney will roll out an interactive, multiplayer game called "Virtual Magic Kingdom." It aims to provide a virtual visit to Disney's five global resorts and 11 theme parks to anyone with an Internet connection. The target: "tweens" ages 8 to 12 and young teens.

The goal: push kids to urge their parents to visit a Disney park during the anniversary promotion that also includes the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland on Sept. 12.

"We hope it becomes a real hangout for preteens and teens," said Jay Rasulo, president of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, during a recent news conference about anniversary-marketing plans.

Jeff Logsdon, managing director at investment banker Harris Nesbitt, says Disney's strategy "is clearly a clever way to engage with a key part of their target market. Kids 10 years old and younger have really grown up with the Internet."

Forrest Research predicts advergaming will grow into a $1 billion business this year. As marketers try to target kids and elusive Gen Y consumers, Madison Avenue is waking up to the fact that Webwise younger consumers like video games — and disdain pop-ups, banner ads and other less-subtle forms of online advertising.

And rather than get a kid's attention for just 30 seconds with a TV commercial, advergames can capture them for minutes or hours. "If a kid likes a game, they'll play it 15 times," says Tim Spengler, executive vice president of media services company Initiative. "Companies are asking 'What's my game strategy?' "

Read the article: www.usatoday.com

TiVo faces threat as options multiply

SAN JOSE - TiVo has been synonymous with digital video recording since it pioneered the industry five years ago, controlling an estimated one-third of the market in 2004. That lofty perch is now beginning to crumble.

Competition in the growing and lucrative industry is intensifying as cable providers, satellite operators and consumer electronics companies push ahead with models of their own, giving consumers more choices while threatening to significantly blunt TiVo Inc.'s edge.

"They're facing a very, very difficult year this year. It'll be increasingly difficult for them to sign up new subscribers," said Josh Bernoff, an analyst at Forrester Research. "Why do you need a TiVo when there's a cable DVR (digital video recorder) for free?"

Many agree that TiVo's service remains the best of breed, with its easy navigational controls and advanced search and record functions.

Its subscribers, who tend to be an evangelistic bunch, account for one in three of the estimated 6.5 million U.S. households with digital video recorders.

Read the article: www.biz.yahoo.com

TiVo faces threat as options multiply

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- TiVo has been synonymous with digital video recording since it pioneered the industry five years ago, controlling an estimated one-third of the market in 2004. That lofty perch is now beginning to crumble.

Competition in the growing and lucrative industry is intensifying as cable providers, satellite operators and consumer electronics companies push ahead with models of their own, giving consumers more choices while threatening to significantly blunt TiVo Inc.'s edge.

"They're facing a very, very difficult year this year. It'll be increasingly difficult for them to sign up new subscribers," said Josh Bernoff, an analyst at Forrester Research. "Why do you need a TiVo when there's a cable DVR (digital video recorder) for free?"

Many agree that TiVo's service remains the best of breed, with its easy navigational controls and advanced search and record functions.

Its subscribers, who tend to be an evangelistic bunch, account for one in three of the estimated 6.5 million U.S. households with digital video recorders.

Read the article: www.biz.yahoo.com

NATPE: Branded Entertainment is topic A

The buzz among top media buyers at this year's annual TV syndication mart, NATPE 2005, won't be the new first-run shows starring supermodel Tyra Banks or Howard Stern sidekick Robin Quivers. Media buyers and syndicators in Las Vegas will be far more interested in branded entertainment, or deals that integrate clients' products and brands into TV programs, either as product placement or as part of the script.

This is the same topic that has been driving early talks between media buyers and the broadcast and cable networks, as well as the Hollywood studios that supply them: the prospect of getting in on the ground floor of an opportunity to integrate their products and brands into what could be the next big hit.

The problem, say Madison Avenue media buyers, is that the syndication business hasn't generated a big list of hits lately. The most successful shows launched over the past couple of years—NBC Universal's Ellen Degeneres Show and Buena Vista Television's Tony Danza Show—are getting ratings that would be considered respectable by cable-TV standards but are not exactly the kind of numbers advertisers expect from broadcast-TV hits.

“None of those were really a breakout show,” notes Brad Adgate, senior vice president and director of corporate research at Horizon Media, New York. “The last genuine hit in syndication would be Dr. Phil.”

Now syndicators and advertisers alike are looking to develop a wide array of branded entertainment opportunities. Already, off-network shows feature product placement technologies that can place brands in series that have already been produced. Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution has been leading some of those conversations for off-network shows like Friends and Drew Carey.

Read the article: www.broadcastingcable.com

Volkswagen, NBC think big, slate global branded entertainment alliance

Calling it one of the "largest and most comprehensive alliances in the entertainment industry," German automaker Volkswagen Thursday unveiled a branded entertainment agreement that will incorporate its cars and brand names into films, DVDs, theme parks and other entertainment properties developed by NBC Universal.

The agreement includes product placement, as well as Volkswagen's "presence" at Universal film premieres and home entertainment releases, as well as the exploration of original TV programming and on-air film promotions.

Read the article: www.mediapost.com

Branded 'editorial:' magazine researcher tracks product placement in print

Product placement has been the rage among TV planners and buyers, but the so-called practice of "branded entertainment" has found its way into other media, including print. But unlike television, where three major research companies have launched high-profile services for tracking product placements, nobody seemed to be keeping an eye on print media.

Enter Hall's Reports LLC, a research company best known for its reports on the editorial content and ad page ratios of magazines, which will enter the product placement field this spring with a new syndicated report tracking print's version of branded entertainment.

Hall's, which has long provided individual clients with the means to track any and all mention of their brands in print, will now push this data to the desktops of media planners via a Web-based subscription product.

Read the article: www.mediapost.com

Abbey to back Five property shows in sponsorship first

LONDON – Building society Abbey has signed its first TV sponsorship deal with Five to promote its mortage and insurance ranges on the broadcaster's house and home TV programmes throughout 2005.

The deal will see Abbey's credits on 'House Doctor', 'Hot Property' and 'How Not to Decorate', as well as programmes that are still in development.

Angus Porter, Abbey's customer director, said: "Five's house and home programming is an ideal fit with our target audience for mortgages and general insurance.

"It will give us a stronger profile, enable us to tailor messages at key points throughout the year and provide a more general springboard for other marketing activity during 2005."

Read the article: www.brandrepublic.com

DVRs forcing ad agencies into changing their message

Now that digital video recorders are letting TV viewers zip past commercials, many in the advertising community can't help but wonder what will become of the traditional 30-second advertisements that long have been the cornerstone of TV ad campaigns.

The digital video recorders, or DVRs, operate much like VCRs sans the tape, with hard drives that store broadcasts and cable TV programs. The ability to record programs and easily find them to watch later has significantly changed the viewing habits of DVR owners, who spend only 41 percent of their TV time watching live broadcasts, according to a report release in September by Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass.

DVRs can be found in about 7 percent of U.S. households, but that number could jump to more than 10 percent in the next year, said Zain Raj, chief marketing officer for advertising agency Euro RSCG Worldwide in Chicago.

"When the penetration gets beyond 10 [percent] to 11 percent, that's when we'll start getting enough critical mass where there will be a change in behavior. That's when we'll stop watching TV in a traditional manner," he said.

Forrester Research estimates that 41 percent of U.S. households will have a DVR by 2009. Nine out of 10 DVR owners report that they always or usually skip commercials when they watch programs recorded on their DVR, according to the results of recent survey by MPG, a New York.-based media-planning and buying group affiliated with Euro RSCG.

Meanwhile, TiVo, the Alviso, Calif.-based DVR service provider that popularized DVRs, reports that its subscribers tend to skip about 75 percent of commercials in programs they have recorded.

Read the article: www.chicagotribune.com

German mobile phone users to pay TV licence fee

Germany is to charge mobile phone users a TV licence fee from April because more and more of the devices are equipped to receive radio and TV transmissions.

The licences, which were to apply to computers from April anyway, have been extended to include mobile phones as an increasing number are able to receive FM radio stations. Sales of phones with TVs are also expected to take off later this year.

People in Japan and Korea have been using TV-phones for some time and the service was launched in Berlin last summer. Customers can receive Eurosport and music station Viva Plus among other channels.

Read the article: www.media.guardian.co.uk

Turning game characters into on-air celebrities

Quick: What channel is MTV2 on your cable system? You don’t know? Go on, ask your kids (I’ll wait).

You need to find out, and to tune in, because the Viacom-owned music network is home to one of the most innovative. Video Mods are animated MTV music videos starring animated characters from popular digital games.

You need to find out, and to tune in, because the Viacom-owned music network is home to one of the most innovative shows on TV, a self-described (by its host) “cross-breeding bastard” of a program that is a captivating experiment in branded entertainment.

The show is “Video Mods,” and it centers on original music videos that feature animated characters from popular video games dancing, singing and acting in vignettes based on hit songs.

The videos are compelling. One features characters from Electronic Arts’ Sims 2 game acting out a teen fantasy based on the Fountains of Wayne song “Stacey’s Mom.” Other videos mix singles from Evanescence, Black Eyed Peas and the Vines with characters from Leisure Suit Larry, Jade Empire and Outlaw Golf 2.

The segments between songs feature interviews with musicians about which video games they play on their tour buses and reports on the latest installment of a popular Tony Hawk game or the introduction of a portable Nintendo system with a modem port. Video-game publishers buy up some of the commercial inventory, but there are also

In the video mod 'Dip It Low,' a character from the game Jade Empire performs a song within her gamescape environment.
spots for teen-oriented slasher films and youth brands such as Cingular, Sierra Mist and Bod deodorant spray.

“Video Mods” is an ideal convergence of entertainment and marketing. The show simultaneously promotes music artists, record labels, video games and game consoles, while accumulating young male eyeballs for MTV2 to sell to sponsors. On the Web site, there are even links to buy games promoted in the videos.

Read the article: www.adage.com

TiVo goes mobile

TiVo announced today its new TiVoToGo(TM) service enhancement is now available and has begun to roll out the software update to standalone TiVo® Series2(TM) boxes. The TiVoToGo service enhancement allows subscribers to transfer programs from their TiVo box to a laptop to enjoy their favorite shows anywhere, anytime. The TiVoToGo service enhancement is available at no extra charge as part of the TiVo service.

We're all about delivering lifestyle benefits to our subscribers. Consumers don't want to be tied to their living room to watch their favorite entertainment. Other generic DVRs confine your entertainment experience to the living room, but with TiVoToGo, subscribers can take their favorite shows with them to enjoy on business trips or family vacations," said Matt Wisk, chief marketing officer, TiVo.

Read the article: www.biz.yahoo.com

BSkyB offers prospect of ad-free viewing

The satellite group BSkyB has patented new technology that allows television viewers to record favourite programmes without any ad breaks.

Sky Plus, the satellite broadcaster's current personal video recorder (PVR), allows users to skip through advertisements. However, even when played at 30 times normal speed, the commercials can still be seen by viewers.

Using technology licensed by the Patent Office last year, Sky could offer a service that allows viewers much greater control. One patent, filed in August 2000, allows viewers to "interrupt the recording of programmes so as not to record adverts, for example".

It could also allow viewers to edit shows so that only favourite acts were recorded from music programmes.

The broadcasting industry is talking to regulators about greater use of product placement, which is a growing feature of US television screens but outlawed here.

The company hopes that a quarter of its expected 10m subscribers will sign up to Sky Plus by 2010. The service at present has 400,000 subscribers.

Read the article: www.media.guardian.co.uk