Recently on the Script School radio show (#185) we delved into ad blocking and ad cancellation services and the subject of TiVo came up. My position on TiVo cancelling ads was, to summarize: hey, fine, more power to them, but if I am fast forwarding through a commercial and am a paying TiVo subscriber, then do not popup additional advertisements. It seems that according to at least one study, advertisers also feel slighted by this proposed new TiVo feature and are planning to reduce their TV ads spending by 20% over the next five years.

A majority of national advertisers plan to cut spending on TV commercials by 20 percent in the next five years, when they believe that ad-skipping devices like TiVo will take hold in households, according to a new survey.

Do you believe that advertisers will actually do this? I think it would be better for everybody if things go back to the early days of radio and go to product placement within the content or via routes like Google is going with targeted ad placement. Show me the ads that correspond to my interests. However, if I’m paying $70/month for cable TV and then another $13 a month for TiVo, I would like the ability to choose what ads I do and don’t see. I think that’s reasonable and fair considering 90% of the available cable channels I don’t even watch. And I’m guessing that I’m not all that much different than others. If it means reducing the number of channels available to me and going more a la carte style pricing for cable channels, then fine, I’d be down for that. We would probably save money!

• Update on (maybe) ditching cable for satellite
• We’re thinking about nuking cable and Netflix
• TiVo to experiment with ads during fast forward
• Cable moans and groans — switch from Satellite or not?
• No, I won’t pay $10 a month to access reruns
• TiVo $150 early termination fee