Next up in our buy more TiVo series are steps to hide intrusive pause menu advertising. While TiVo produces arguably the best DVR, beyond consumer sales and service, the company augments revenue by leveraging their userbase for advertising and analytics. The vast majority of these initiatives are applied with a soft touch, but pause menu ads clearly cross the line by layering paid promos atop television content. As TiVo says,
Want to get their full attention? The TiVo® Pause Menu gives advertisers an unprecedented opportunity to reach viewers as they are tuned-in and interacting with live and time-shifted programming. When viewers hit pause, additional ad messaging appears in a screen overlay, making it easy and convenient for them to access your ad content.
Pause menu advertising can be manually banished on a per show basis by clicking the down arrow to “hide extras” … but there is a more efficient, automated method. Assuming you’re OK doing away with the progress bar. Long before the current regime, TiVo implemented a variety of “Kickstart” and backdoor codes that remain in effect. And, one in particular, has become extra useful given TiVo’s increased on-screen advertising. The easiest way to implement this on Roamio, Premiere, and Series 3 hardware is when an ad surfaces while pausing recorded programming or a Showcase video ad:
It may take a couple tries to get the code correctly entered. But you’ll know you got it right when you hear the TiVo bong. For further confirmation, pausing content should now quick-clear the progress bar… along with any associated advertising. It’s a win-win as TiVo gets the advertising “impression” but you’re unlikely to be bothered given the speed at which it vanishes. Just remember, you’ll have to reapply the code after each infrequent TiVo reboot. Power users should check out kmttg – it provides a ton of useful functionality, including the ability to reliably send backdoor commands such as this SPSPS Easter egg, from computer-to-TiVo without futzing with button press and content timing.