QVC 2.0: TiVo users can buy products on their TV through Amazon

In an attempt to further monetize its DVR offering, TiVo has partnered with online retailer Amazon to allow advertisers to sell products to TiVo users directly through their TV.

The new service is most easily described with this example: an author appears on The Oprah Winfrey Show to promote his or her new book. At the end of the show, TiVo pops up a window with an option to purchase the book. TiVo currently embeds advertisements at the bottom of certain windows, which is likely where this offer would appear.

While at the current time the system will only guess the appropriate product, the company says it will offer the service to advertisers and programmers to make the suggestions more relevant.

In either case, TiVo says the feature would allow for an entirely new connection with the consumer where the advertiser can take advantage of impulse buying. The product can either be purchased directly through the TiVo, or placed in the viewer's Amazon shopping cart for later.

Purchases done through the TiVo would be secured by a PIN number, which the customers would need to set up before using the service.

"If their product is seen or advertised on any TV show or network, and sold by Amazon.com, it can be merchandised to viewers through TiVo," explained TiVo broadband services director Evan Young.

Series2, Series3, and TiVo's HD DVRs would gain the functionality immediately thanks to the recent 9.4 software upgrade that also brought YouTube video integration. The first programs that will feature the product showcase include Oprah, The Ellen Degeneres Show, The Colbert Report, and Burn Notice.

TiVo sees the new offering as a way to further cozy up to advertisers who continue see the company as more of a threat than opportunity. Rather than skip over ads, product placement could help some advertisers retain viewers, as well as sell their products more directly to the consumer.