Sling Community – Blog
Sling Community – Review
Sling Community – Review: SlingPlayer for TV
Sling Community – Review: MyMedia
Sling Community – Review: SlingProjector
ZatzNotFunny
Engadget
EngadgetHD
Gizmodo
CNET – Crave
CED Magazine
Obsessable
SlashGear
NewsFactor Network
HD Update
SFGate
Wired
Register Hardware
TG Daily
Stuff.tv
TechWhack
Electronista
Silicon Alley Insider
Electronic House
Pocket-lint
PC World
BLORGE
BroadcastNewsroom
Sci-Tech Today
Gearlog
TrustedReviews
Coolest Gadgets

Both the Slingbox PRO-HD and SlingCatcher MSRP at USD$299.99, but the best deals I’ve seen on both are from PROVANTAGE – currently Slingbox PRO-HD for $241.70 and SlingCatcher for $240.47.

EDIT: And more coverage:
The Gadgetress
Engadget
EngadgetHD
jkOnTheRun
Gizmodo
Obsessable
TG Daily
TWICE
Silicon Alley Insider
TVPredictions
TechSpot
SlashGear
Multichannel News
ZDNet – The Mobile Gadgeteer
TheStreet.com
Electronista
Electronic House
Boy Genius Report
eHomeUpgrade
ZDNet – The Toybox
Obsessable – Product Page

I found the report interesting reading just from the data on the numbers of actual product placements. I was surprised by just how many placements there are. For example, in the first half of 2008 American Idol alone had 4,636 product placements, followed by Biggest Loser with 4,364. Coca-Cola was the top brand, with 2,990 placements. The market was bombarded with 204,919 product placements in just the first half of 2008. So if you thought there were a lot of products slipped into your shows, you’re right.

Not surprisingly, reality programing has the most product placements as its easier to work products in than it is in a scripted show. But with the deluge of reality shows clogging up the airwaves, there may be too many programs to go around. Audiences can only take so much, and with more shows on the air advertisers may not get as much of a concentration of viewers.

Personally I abhor most reality shows and do everything I can not to watch them. I guess I few shows I watch, like Iron Chef America, technically fall into the category though. But even avoiding the big reality shows, I’ve noticed a growing amount of product placement. One of the shows I enjoyed last season, The Big Bang Theory, had a lot of product placement worked into the program. Characters made very obvious use of Dell laptops, and one character works at The Cheesecake Factory, as is mentioned repeatedly. This season of Eureka is partly sponsored by Degree antiperspirant, which includes fairly intrusive, annoying product placement in the program itself. It is so clumsily handled that it’d be better if the characters just stopped and pitched the product for 30 seconds. It is annoying enough to make me want to never use the product.

I wonder if the increasing ‘in your face’ aspect of product placements is a symptom of the same saturation effect. It reminds me very much of web-based advertising, and how ads became increasingly aggressive with pop-ups, pop-unders, sound, animation, etc. Desperately trying to attract consumers, while in reality it was increasingly driving them away. Unfortunately I don’t expect an ad-blocker for product placements any time soon.

Spotted through Silicon Valley Insider.

But the most exciting news comes via AllThingsD:

What about ease of use? TiVo wireless adapters are good, Rogers responds, acknowledging there’s nevertheless a multiset issue: You still need a second box. But we’re working on a whole-home model, he adds.

That’s a almost a throwaway line, but it is great news. It sounds like they’re moving beyond Multi-Room Viewing to a true distributed system. This isn’t too surprising, as we’re seeing multi-room solutions gaining traction with providers like AT&T U-Verse and various cable MSOs. I have to wonder if this is the ‘Series4′ OCAP/tru2way box Rogers has hinted at in the past, or a different product. I do hope TiVo doesn’t reinvent the wheel, and uses established standards like DLNA. That would allow DLNA-enabled platforms (like the PS3) to access the content and not just some TiVo-mate client box.

Here’s a couple of ‘highlight reels’ of Tom Rogers’ interview at D6.

Digital manipulation, whether it’s called TiVo or the ability to fast-forward through commercials, is one of the driving factors behind the need to rethink our relationships with advertisers. The 30-second spot is still very relevant, very valuable, but this deal with Liberty Mutual is the centerpiece of the kind of deals we want to make going forward.

I’m not that surprised. I’ve said in the past that the correct response by content providers to disruptive new technologies such as TiVo is not to dig in their heels and try to block adoption, but to find new business models that will work with the new technology. And perhaps some of the new business models may indeed be old models updated for the times. We’ve been seeing more product placement (FordKnight Rider anyone?) and we’ll see if this kind of sponsorship works out.