TiVo Compiles, Sells Users’ Viewing Data

Digital video recorder maker TiVo hopes to make a buck out of its customers’ viewing habits, by selling the data it collects to broadcasters and advertisers.

TiVo will sell second-by-second audience viewing data and a quarterly Commercial Viewing Report that will tell when TiVo users skip advertisements, the company has announced.

Information for the detailed analysis is derived from data collected when TiVo boxes make their daily call to retrieve programming information, the company said. The data is anonymous and is compiled to provide statistics about activity by many users, according to TiVo.

Great. Thanks to our TiVo, we’ll see an increase in cheap Japanese cartoons about hamsters, imported British flea market shows, and hammily-acted scifi shows. Just what the world needs.