Daily Marauder

TECHNOLOGY

Sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday — which each mark the official start of the holiday shopping season — are expected to be flat, as compared with last year, according to a survey of retail CMOs. In 2007, Black Friday posted a sales gain of 8.3% and Cyber Monday was up 21%, compared with the previous year. MediaPost Communications (11/17)

Tivo added a new feature to its line up of broadband-connected DVRs – now you can order a pizza for delivery or pick up from Dominos directly from your remote. The service is free. (Cynopsis 11/18)

Tivo expanded the sample size of its Stop||Watch second-by-second measurement service from 20,000 to 100,000 subscribers. The service monitors live and time-shifted viewing and provides visibility into fast-forwarding of programming and commercials. To promote the offering TiVo released data showing a year-over-year comparison of broadcast program and commercial primetime viewing for the month of September; the data shows an apparent surge in broadcast viewing particularly in the Time-shifted category, which grew by 24% over the previous year. (Cynopsis 11/18)

Broadcast Program/Commercial Viewership Lift — September Year-Over-Year
Program Rating            Commercial Rating
Viewing                    Fall 08/Fall 07 % Change    Fall 08/Fall 07 % Change
Total                                          13%                          9%
Live Viewing (5 Second Interval)   5%                           5%
Timeshifted Viewing                    24%                         23%
Near-live Viewing (Within 1 Hour) 20%                         19%
1-6 Hour Delay                           32%                          34%
6-24 Hour Delay                         20%                          20%
24-48 Hour Delay                        29%                         30%
48-72 Hour Delay                        29%                         27%
72 Hour to 7 Day Delay                26%                         26%
7-14 Day Delay                           27%                         26%

Computers using Intel’s new desktop processing chip – the Core i7 – went on sale from Dell, Gateway and others. Intel says the chip will perform between 4 to 6 times faster than its current platform. The new chips are based on a newly designed microarchitecture, dubbed Nehalem, which significantly improves power management and memory control. (Cynopsis 11/18)