A TV that knows who you are

Within months UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB will start TV’s fightback against the internet with its own “tailored” advertising service.

For the first time this will enable TV ads in the UK to be targeted at specific homes based on viewing tastes, household make-up or even postcode. Commercials for people carriers could be shown only to households with children, and ads for top-of-the-range washing powders just to higher-income homes. The move will also allow advertisers to cherry-pick specific geographical areas right down to individual houses on particular streets. Media buyers say this will open up the world of TV advertising to new companies. Think of local takeaway restaurants, for whom TV advertising would have been too expensive, they say. Or even ultra high-end brands, such as Porsche, which have always shunned TV simply because it is too mass-market.