TiVo--a company well-known for helping TV viewers skip commercials--is teaming up with Amazon.com to make it easier for consumers to purchase products they see advertised and promoted on television commercials and talk shows, according to a report Monday on The New York Times Web site.
A "product purchase" feature on onscreen menus will provide TiVo customers with links to buy products like books, compact discs, and DVDs that are featured on shows like The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Late Show With David Letterman, and The Daily Show the newspaper reported. Alviso, Calif.-based TiVo plans to offer the feature to advertisers and programmers, giving viewers the chance to purchase products during commercials and product placements in shows, the paper reported.
to the sale."

Television advertising isn’t interactive, typically - unless you like dialing up 1-800 infomercial numbers to purchase things like bona fide omelette toasters, commemorative Indian nickel plaques, and large, dull-proof knife sets. TiVo, the company that made a name for itself by letting users record TV for later viewing (and skip commercials), is working on a next-generation form of TV advertising, that promises to be far more interactive. It is partnering with Amazon to offer product ads that appear alongside regular TV ads and programming. These ads will let viewers go and purchase those products directly from Amazon.
In the coming months, the four million-plus TiVo users

By BRAD STONE SAN FRANCISCO - TiVo, the Silicon Valley company that introduced millions to the joy of skipping television commercials, is trying to crack a decades-old media dream. It wants to turn the television remote control into a tool for buying the products being advertised and promoted on commercials and talk shows.
The company, based in Alviso, Calif., will introduce a “product purchase” feature on Tuesday in partnership with the Internet retailer Amazon.com. Owners of TiVo video recorders will see, in TiVo’s various onscreen menus, links to buy products like CDs, DVDs and books that guests are promoting on talk shows like “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “The Late Show