Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) is introducing a new service called Look Back that will allow customers to record television shows to watch later for free. There are just two catches:
- Customers must watch the recorded shows on before midnight on the same day they are recorded. They are automatically deleted after midnight.
- Customers must sit through the commercials. The fast-forward feature will be turned off so customers will not be able to skip commercials.
Time Warner Cable is confident they'll make enough money on the ads that providing the service for free won't be a problem. In fact, Time Warner Cable already offers a similar free service in six of its 23 markets called Start Over (originally launched in 2005), which allows viewers to start watching a program from the beginning up to 30 minutes after it began. The fast-forward feature is turned off in Start Over, so customers must sit through the commercials. Start Over will launch in eight more of Time Warner Cable's markets by March 2008. Look Back is scheduled to launch in South Carolina in October 2007 then slowly grow throughout the country similar to the growth of Start Over.
I like the sound of Look Back. It seems like a win-win product for the consumer and the advertiser. The consumer can have a DVR service for free with just two requirements -- they have to watch the show before midnight the same day it's recorded and they can't skip the commercials. The advertiser wins by having a greater chance of the consumer actually viewing their commercial.
What do you think about Look Back from a consumer's perspective? How about from an advertiser's perspective?
I always wanted to record shows that I didn't have the time to watch but I don't want to pay for that service (I pay enough already). I think it's a good compromise - I don't think I would mind sitting through the commercials
Posted by: Andy | August 21, 2007 4:45 PM | Permalink to Comment