TiVo's revolution in audience measurement snags CBS

CBS Corporation has announced it will enter into a partnership with TiVo, utilizing the DVR pioneer's Stop||Watch viewer metric.

TiVo's Stop||Watch service is a second-by-second system, which is used to measure program and advertisement ratings for both live and time shifted DVR viewing. It was the first company to use such a comprehensive system, and major network NBC began using Stop||Watch earlier this year.

The metric system will not be limited to dedicated TiVo units, but will also be included in the forthcoming TiVo-enabled Comcast boxes and Cox Cable boxes when they officially are announced.

Media research firm TNS announced a similar service today for DirecTV called DIRECTView. It is an opt-in audience measurement service that measures programs and commercials the same way Stop||Watch does. That service will be introduced later this year, and will attempt to have 100,000 participating households, making it the largest US audience measurement panel yet. TiVo's Stop||Watch will gather data from 20,000 units.