Verizon's latest push to get you to switch from your current carrier revolves directly around high-def, as it's offering new customers a HD DVR or HD Home Media DVR for a full year should they sign up before October 4th. According to Shawn Strickland, vice president of video solutions for Verizon, FiOS TV is "delivered over the network that's built for HD," and it's doing its best to ensure that everyone out there knows it. So, do any of you other providers care to match this, or will the leapfrog game end here?

[Image courtesy of PCMag]

You know those situations where everyone knows something yet no one is courageous enough to just blurt out the obvious? Pardon us, but yes, people do actually use their DVRs to skip commercials. In case our word isn't good enough for you, research firm Oliver Wyman has just completed a study which found that 85% of the 1,000 global participants used their DVR to skip at least three-quarters of all commercials. Furthermore, most viewers stated that they would not be willing to "watch advertising even when it underwrites free content," and they wouldn't want to pay extra (in addition to the DVR cost, we presume) to remove ads. Really though, we ad skippers are simply keeping those lucrative media marketing firms on their toes, and trust us, they have / will continue to find ways to circumvent our circumvention. Full release after the jump.

Sony's been pretty big on its HDNA marketing scheme. Even at last year's CEDIA the message was everywhere, asserting that its home theater gear shared some sort of double-helix bond with the root of all high-definition. Now, the outfit is pulling its HD-equipped VAIO machines under the same marketing umbrella in an attempt to convince prospective buyers that these systems are "born out of" other high-def products. In particular, Sony will push the HD OTA tuning and BD playback abilities in its all-in-one PCs and Blu-ray-equipped laptops, though we don't expect any new rigs to emerge as part of the deal. Sure, this is little more than a trivial way to tack "HD" onto yet another product, but we can't harsh too much on anything that gets high-def into the mainstream.

AT&T and DISH's tumultuous relationship seems to be ending, with the satellite company filing an 8-K form with the SEC indicating its received notice from the telco that it plans to end their marketing collaboration as of December 31. The possibly ill-fated from the beginning arrangement hasn't necessarily gone beyond the point of no return, since AT&T reps have indicated this was simply necessary for a six-month notification, but the company is still "discussing options" with DISH. Multichannel News contacted DirecTV and they indicated they too, are also still negotiating with AT&T in a bid to market triple-play services in areas where it hasn't rolled out U-Verse service yet. At this point we're expecting a drunken teary phone call from one or both (or all three) parties wondering where things went wrong any minute now.

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[Image courtesy GiftsByExpressions]

We have to admit that in the current ad-happy climate we didn't think it would take some six months for an enterprising company to market TiVo's rich data mine. TRA will be licensing and marketing the info coming from TiVo customers, and the combination of viewing, demographic and purchasing data seems like a marketer's dream come true. Add in the growing trend towards targeted content, and you can guess what advertisers have in mind -- making accurate correlations between ad exposure and buying behavior. Sure, it sounds really creepy, but rest assured that the data is anonymous, so marketers will know how someone exactly like you behaves without knowing it's explicitly you. If you're still uneasy, we'd recommend getting off the grid entirely, because this sort of advertisement looks like it's here to stay.

There's little doubt that interactive advertising has arrived, and while we just heard that Macrovision would be taking a look at DVR usage in order to better position its marketing attack, NBC Universal has now partnered up with DISH Network in order to do something similar. The agreement will provide "interactive trigger capabilities to NBC Universal's 14 television networks and 10 NBC owned-and-operated TV stations," and DISH subscribers who own a DVR will "able to use their remote controls to request more information from advertisers about their products or to receive coupons for various product discounts." As predicted, clicking on such an ad will take a viewer to a page to learn more about a given product, and once he / she is all done soaking it in, they can continue watching right where they left off. Of course, we're still curious as to the amount of people who will actually take a moment to distract themselves in this manner, but hey, it sounds goods in theory.

[Image courtesy of DBSTalk]

With Disney creating a dedicated lair for biometric testing of advertisements and Backchannelmedia pushing its own TV-to-internet ad platform, we aren't too surprised to see Macrovision teaming up with Sunflower Broadband to gauge the effectiveness of yet another advertising alternative. As part of the collaborative effort, EPG usage patterns of an "anonymous sample of Sunflower customers" will be collected and scrutinized in order to "gain insight into how consumers use i-Guide and interact with their DVR, on-demand services and in-guide advertising." In essence, the data will be used to "develop more effective consumer marketing tactics" and understand how subscribers "engage with interactive guide advertising." In-guide advertising? We hate to even think it, but really, what's next?

Life's good in Bristol -- at least it sure looks that way based on reports stemming from The Cable Show in New Orleans and the latest Nielsen data. For starters, primetime viewership on ESPN grew 15%, while total day ratings ratcheted up 13%. According to Sean Bratches, executive vice president of sales and marketing for the outfit, ESPN's ratings were 43% higher in high-definition homes versus standard-definition homes, reiterating that sports and movies are the two biggest draws of owning an HDTV. Needless to say, the news simply means that the network can demand even more for precious ad time, but we won't even pretend you didn't see that coming.

We've seen outfits and networks dig deep to figure out how to make ads more attractive (or just watchable, really), but Disney's taking things to an entirely new plateau. The mega-corp is establishing a laboratory in Austin, Texas which will actually test the biometric reactions of up to 4,000 people in order to better understand what types of commercials are most effective. In the controlled setting, gurus will be tasked with measuring "heart rate and skin conductivity while tracking the gaze of participants who are exposed to new ad models over the internet, mobile devices and TV screens." As expected, the entire project is being undertaken in order to discover whether it can charge more for certain spots, but we're told not to expect the findings until early next year.

[Image courtesy of MSNBC]

As the media giants look for more creative ways to snag our attention even for just a brief moment, Horizon Media is partnering with Backchannelmedia to introduce an all new method at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods, which opens on May 17th. Hailed as the "first ever" of its kind, the TV-to-Internet click-through advertising platform will enable viewers to point and click at icons / links / etc. on their TV screen with their remote. Upon doing so, their broadband connected PC will be directed to a related website where the viewer can learn more about a product or actually make a purchase. We're also told that WCVB-DT (ABC) Channel 5 in Boston will be the first broadcast TV station to sign on and utilize the technology, but there's no mention of other stations following suit. We'll admit, the idea is pretty ingenious, but whether or not it'll actually work as advertised (ahem) remains to be seen.

[Via TVWeek]

Given the amount of buzz surrounding the 2008 Olympic Games, we aren't too surprised to see Panasonic jumping on the bandwagon in an attempt to push its brand. The outfit has just kicked off a nationwide tour involving a fleet of customized trucks encouraging families to get their living rooms ready for HD. Reportedly, the flagship truck will be visiting retailers across the US and give prospective buyers the chance to snag an autograph from swimmer Mark Spitz and gymnast Kerri Strug. As expected, Panny will be handing out lots of free kit along the way, and interestingly enough, the trucks you see should look awfully familiar -- after all, they're the same ones used in last year's "Living in HD" contest (but with a snazzy new paint job). Talk about a good example of recycling.

Some of you keen readers pieced all this together already, but that commercial you've been seeing about an "all new television series" dubbed Scarlet isn't a new show at all; rather, it's a risky move by LG to push its Scarlet LCD HDTVs. The sets themselves have been out and about already, and while the specifications aren't anything to sneeze at, the displays aren't nearly as seductive as the 30 second spot. The idea was crafted and put into motion by LG global brand marketing VP Kwan-Sup Lee and a team of advertising / marketing agencies, and while it refused to disclose exactly how much it has spent on the endeavor, it did affirm that it was "millions more than a typical product launch in the US." Sure, we can appreciate the envelope pushing, but now that we're all psyched about the show, it's a bit of a letdown to know we'll never actually be able to tune in. Check out the ad in its entirety after the jump.

We've certainly seen companies use the well-trafficked floors of Wal-Mart to springboard certain products and / or services before, but this one has us scratching our noggins, for sure. Apparently Time Warner Cable has secured a deal that will allow it to market its cable, broadband internet access and digital phone service in nearly 700 Wal-Mart locations. Reportedly, customers can sign up for any of the provider's services from within the store (at "Connection Centers"), but here comes the curious part: after they leave, they're required to either phone up TWC in order to complete the transaction and get their service(s) hooked up or wait 24-hours for the carrier to contact them. In essence, what we've got here is a bona fide marketing push -- from what we can tell, nothing about this process makes things noticeably easier for the customer than just phoning up Time Warner Cable from the comfort of their own home. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

Assembling bundles for consoles isn't something incredibly new to Sony, but on its latest selection of six PlayStation 3 starter packs, half of 'em are aimed squarely at the home theater crowd. The Fantasy, Adventure and Thriller packages all ditch extra controllers or AAA game releases to include a different Blu-ray movie, the PS3 remote and a paltry $10 savings. Given the sudden surge in attractiveness, we wouldn't be surprised one iota to see Sony continue to market the movie-playing aspects as Blu-ray awareness picks up.

[Thanks, Chris]

They never said change was easy -- nor inexpensive, apparently. Announced today, Starz has decided to undertake its "largest long-term brand investment since 2002," freeing itself of $25 million in order to spark up a new brand and marketing initiative. Users will start seeing an all new logo, fresh on-air look and an "integrated advertising campaign on-air and online." As expected, the new identity -- part of the "Are You Ready?" initiative -- will be ran across the company's six SD and four HD channels, and Starz is slated to run TV spots with the new logo starting on April 7th (while the online portion launches on April 14th). Hope it's worth it.