An article in the March 7, 2011 Wall Street Journal (WSJ article) reminds us that not all of the consumer tracking data emphasis has abandoned television for Internet. As information-rich as the Internet may be for consumer profiling purposes, a multi-pronged approach continues to evolve in television viewing tracking, utilizing capabilities typically integrated into the personal computer experience. The article describes the efforts of one company in particular, Cablevision, in targeting different audiences with targeted ads featuring the same brand, showing a different iteration depending on the niche of interest. Targeting is based on subscriber information from third parties. This type of information could range from ages of those in the household to grocery shopping preferences and – of course – the types of television programs viewed.

 Straight from the consumer research world to your cable box, so that four houses on the same street might see a different version of an ad while watching the identical program. Bank of America indicates that “targeting technologies” could result in an “addressable ads” market that reaches US$11.6 billion by 2015. What does this mean for traditional media versus digital? Is television morphing into the bridge between the two, in actuality? Certainly, challenges lie ahead, with tightened regulations regarding online tracking expected to apply to television as well. Until then: you might not want to skip through the ads on the DVR anymore. Your television knows what you want.