Apple Might Be Ready To Skip Commercials

When Apple takes on existing technologies and puts their product design expertise to work, they have the power to move technologies formerly only accessible to the more technically-minded among us into the mainstream.  DVR technology is hardly exclusive to mega-geeks, but if Apple moved into the sphere, it is likely the popularity of the technology could explode.  Sources indicate that the technology giant has begun meeting with cable networks to pitch an ad-skipping service much like TiVo or Hopper.  This could only be a small part of a larger set-top-box project, but it could still spell a big problem for TV advertisers. The report indicates that Apple would pay networks every time a user skips ads, so it’s possible there would be a subscription fee involved as well.  In any case, if the rates are not set carefully, Apple could seriously disrupt the effectiveness and cost of TV advertising.