# Latest TiVo Survey



## RoamioJeff (May 9, 2014)

So who else got the survey in their email?

I found it interesting that there were a significant number of questions about skipmode.

And at the end of the survey was this:

"We are also looking for TiVo users in the San Francisco Bay Area to participate in usability research at our headquarters in San Jose (Alviso). You will have a chance to provide feedback on features still in development, and get paid for your time. If you live near us and are interested in participating in a future test, click here to sign up."

Thoughts, discussion ...


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## mrizzo80 (Apr 17, 2012)

I haven't received it yet, but the final question has been on these surveys before. (It doesn't come up often, though.)

Most of the recent surveys have been pretty boring, hopefully this one is more interesting.


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## toricred (Mar 9, 2004)

I sure hope all the questions about SkipMode aren't because they are thinking of dropping it. That feature is one of the main reasons I didn't go back to using an HTPC after leaving Dish.


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## hairyblue (Feb 25, 2002)

I got the survey. I have 2 lifetime premiers. They wanted me to answer some questions about the premiers. They also asked about the phone apps, TiVo apps, web page, streaming TiVo box, and what I thought of TiVo.

sent by my phone using Tapatalk, because I am probably waiting on something and have time to read what the great TiVo people are saying.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I got a survey, but it had no questions about SkipMode so there must be more then one. Mine was mainly boring stuff about my network setup and A/V equipment.


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## RoamioJeff (May 9, 2014)

Dan203 said:


> I got a survey, but it had no questions about SkipMode so there must be more then one. Mine was mainly boring stuff about my network setup and A/V equipment.


Wow. Based upon you and hairyblue (above), it appears that TiVo is running some sort of multiple survey matrix, perhaps based on what devices different customers have, to build a sophisticated picture.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

dan203 said:


> i got a survey, but it had no questions about skipmode so there must be more then one. Mine was mainly boring stuff about my network setup and a/v equipment.


+1


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## hairyblue (Feb 25, 2002)

RoamioJeff said:


> Wow. Based upon you and hairyblue (above), it appears that TiVo is running some sort of multiple survey matrix, perhaps based on what devices different customers have, to build a sophisticated picture.


Yea a part of it was Premiere. They asked if I was happy with the speed of the premiere with how fast it worked the menus. And I was. Yea, it's slower, but it gets the job done.


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## celtic pride (Nov 8, 2005)

my survey was about minoritys on tv shows,film festivals, and the same boring questions about what movies i watchor have heard of. I live in so cal.


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> I got a survey, but it had no questions about SkipMode so there must be more then one. Mine was mainly boring stuff about my network setup and A/V equipment.


Probably the same as mine, even asking questions about Blu-ray players.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

No survey for me this month, at least not yet. Last one I got was from April.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

celtic pride said:


> my survey was about minoritys on tv shows,film festivals, and the same boring questions about what movies i watchor have heard of. I live in so cal.


+1

My survey covered two types of things. But this second part was listed as optional for responses.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

celtic pride said:


> my survey was about minoritys on tv shows,film festivals, and the same boring questions about what movies i watchor have heard of. I live in so cal.


This


Chris Gerhard said:


> Probably the same as mine, even asking questions about Blu-ray players.


and this too.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

Dan203 said:


> I got a survey, but it had no questions about SkipMode so there must be more then one. Mine was mainly boring stuff about my network setup and A/V equipment.


This.



celtic pride said:


> my survey was about minoritys on tv shows,film festivals, and the same boring questions about what movies i watchor have heard of. I live in so cal.


And this (except I don't live in SoCal).



innocentfreak said:


> No survey for me this month, at least not yet. Last one I got was from April.


This was the "April" survey, even though it didn't arrive in my inbox until May 2.

I noticed at the beginning it said something about how it's been an exciting few days at the office and they can't wait to see how things shake out in the next few months, but that for the time being, that should have no bearing on the survey process.


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## Davelnlr_ (Jan 13, 2011)

Dan203 said:


> I got a survey, but it had no questions about SkipMode so there must be more then one. Mine was mainly boring stuff about my network setup and A/V equipment.


Same with mine. Always thought they were the same nationwide, but apparently they target different surveys to different areas.


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## cwerdna (Feb 22, 2001)

Uhh... OP and others, didn't you guys notice in the survey (along w/all surveys) I've received so far, text like this?

"*Here are some important notes about our surveys:*

We conduct surveys to learn about your preferences and gather opinions about potential features and ideas. However, questions you may receive in these surveys (about features, products, or topics) are not necessarily indicative of current or future products or features TiVo may offer.

Please do not distribute information you may see in this study (features, products, topics covered, etc.). We greatly value hearing from our most loyal customers, but distributing this information will prevent us from consulting with customers as extensively in the future."

I've received a survey. I haven't answered it yet. I will honor their above request.


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## RoamioJeff (May 9, 2014)

cwerdna said:


> Uhh... OP and others, didn't you guys notice ...


No.

I did not notice any such language in the survey I was sent. Since it appears that there are different versions of surveys floating around out there, that language may very well have not been included in the survey I received. Or such language was not prominently apparent.

Nevertheless, no, when I am sent an unsolicited invitation to participate in a 'survey' from a service provider I am not going to treat any information I encounter as confidential or proprietary unless those terms are prominently presented and I am required to check a box or engage in some affirmative action to seal my agreement with said terms. And, no, I probably would not participate in any such hypothetical agreement with such restrictions without consideration of some value.

So, no, when someone sends me something that gives me access to open information that is not protected by a binding agreement, that information is free to share unless I deem otherwise. However, I did not, and probably would not, discuss specific survey questions or my responses verbatim, and only discuss subject areas in a general manner. So I see no issue.


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## kettledrum (Nov 17, 2003)

No skipmode questions for me.

What found interesting is the tidbit about last month's survey saying something along the lines that 42% of panelists have visited McDs in the last month. Sounds high!


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

kettledrum said:


> No skipmode questions for me.
> 
> What found interesting is the tidbit about last month's survey saying something along the lines that 42% of panelists have visited McDs in the last month. Sounds high!


Sounds low actually.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

kettledrum said:


> What found interesting is the tidbit about last month's survey saying something along the lines that 42% of panelists have visited McDs in the last month. Sounds high!





aaronwt said:


> Sounds low actually.


There's a reason they have the most stores of any restaurant in the world.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

cwerdna said:


> Uhh... OP and others, didn't you guys notice in the survey (along w/all surveys) I've received so far, text like this?
> 
> "*Here are some important notes about our surveys:*
> 
> ...


Sure, we saw it. But there's a huge difference between being a part of a true beta with an NDA, and "leaking" a survey that asks if we have a Blu-Ray player. Or which movies we've heard of.


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## kettledrum (Nov 17, 2003)

DevdogAZ said:


> There's a reason they have the most stores of any restaurant in the world.


Hmm...I'm not sure whether or not this makes me feel less guilty that I eat there almost once a week.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

astrohip said:


> Sure, we saw it. But there's a huge difference between being a part of a true beta with an NDA, and "leaking" a survey that asks if we have a Blu-Ray player. Or which movies we've heard of.


You mean Blu-ray DVD player Or at least something to that effect. I couldn't help but laugh every time I saw that written like that in the survey.


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## cwerdna (Feb 22, 2001)

RoamioJeff said:


> No.
> 
> I did not notice any such language in the survey I was sent. Since it appears that there are different versions of surveys floating around out there, that language may very well have not been included in the survey I received. Or such language was not prominently apparent.
> 
> ...


Every single survey that I can remember where I had a chance to see it (before the survey closed) as part of the TiVo Advisors panel has had the language that I cited in post 16 (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=10874608#post10874608) on the first page of the survey.

This includes the TiVo Advisors survey for April (2016).

As such, I honor their request.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=9038575#post9038575 seems to confirm this has been going on as far back as 2012. Yet from my skimming that thread, seems like many folks just don't bother reading that or choose to ignore it.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

cwerdna said:


> Every single survey that I can remember where I had a chance to see it (before the survey closed) as part of the TiVo Advisors panel has had the language that I cited in post 16 (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=10874608#post10874608) on the first page of the survey.
> 
> This includes the TiVo Advisors survey for April (2016).
> 
> ...


You are welcome to honor their request. But note it's a request, not an NDA.

And we're making mountains out of molehills here. These are about as innocuous as a survey can get. So yes, we choose to ignore it.


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## wgameplaya (May 5, 2016)

RoamioJeff said:


> So who else got the survey in their email?
> 
> I found it interesting that there were a significant number of questions about skipmode.
> 
> ...


Im in SF- i just signed up for TIVO tho. I'd love to participate. probably too late to get the survey


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## cwerdna (Feb 22, 2001)

astrohip said:


> You are welcome to honor their request. But note it's a request, not an NDA.


So, I guess the words below mean nothing to you or anyone else violating their request.

"*Here are some important notes about our surveys*:

We conduct surveys to learn about your preferences and gather opinions about potential features and ideas. However, questions you may receive in these surveys (about features, products, or topics) are not necessarily indicative of current or future products or features TiVo may offer.

Please do not distribute information you may see in this study (features, products, topics covered, etc.). We greatly value hearing from our most loyal customers, but distributing this information will prevent us from consulting with customers as extensively in the future."

There are many reasons for them to not wanting info contained in the survey to be distributed. They can provide competitors info and ideas about what TiVo is/isn't considering. Some people can infer incorrectly that TiVo is/isn't working on something and folks and the media can run wild with it (e.g. incorrectly turning an idea that floated into a promise). There are multitudes of other reasons.


astrohip said:


> And we're making mountains out of molehills here. These are about as innocuous as a survey can get. So yes, we choose to ignore it.


I probably missed this survey, but you decided w/o any internal context that the writers of the survey may have that things in your survey are "innocuous", so you leak away. Meanwhile, others may have different questions and a totally different survey. Who knows if they're also "innocuous"?


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

cwerdna said:


> So, I guess the words below mean nothing to you or anyone else violating their request.
> 
> "*Here are some important notes about our surveys*:
> 
> ...


Again, when it starts with "Please", it's a request, not an NDA.

As for the rest of your reply, all I can say is you are really stretching. There is NO WAY TiVo is going to put something in a public survey they don't want a competitor to see. No. Way.



cwerdna said:


> I probably missed this survey, but you decided w/o any internal context that the writers of the survey may have that things in your survey are "innocuous", so you leak away. Meanwhile, others may have different questions and a totally different survey. Who knows if they're also "innocuous"?


I'm not answering for anyone but me. I decide what's innocuous, and what isn't. And in all honesty, it's hard to imagine a scenario where I wouldn't discuss the survey. I know, and more importantly, TiVo knows it's going to be discussed. I guarantee you they won't put anything in a survey that has any degree of confidentiality. Disclaimers to the contrary.

Mountains. Out of molehills.


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## Worf (Sep 15, 2000)

Wow... two surveys in one month... or rather, the May survey was actually conducted in May!


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Mine was mainly about the discovery bar. There was also an optional section in the middle that was mainly about how I feel men and women are protrayed on TV. I don't really have strong opinions on those sorts of things so I regretted accepting that portion and mostly voted neutral on the questions.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

Dan203 said:


> Mine was mainly about the discovery bar. There was also an optional section in the middle that was mainly about how I feel men and women are protrayed on TV. I don't really have strong opinions on those sorts of things so I regretted accepting that portion and mostly voted neutral on the questions.


Same here, I guess there is a group of people who think scripted TV has something to do with reality or is a social engineering platform.


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## reneg (Jun 19, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> Mine was mainly about the discovery bar. There was also an optional section in the middle that was mainly about how I feel men and women are protrayed on TV. I don't really have strong opinions on those sorts of things so I regretted accepting that portion and mostly voted neutral on the questions.


I also received this survey.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Has anyone here ever won any of the prizes given out for completing the survey?


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

aaronwt said:


> Has anyone here ever won any of the prizes given out for completing the survey?


I've completed every survey for the last several years. Probably at least 6-7 years. And no, I've never won anything.


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## achalupa (Oct 27, 2008)

aaronwt said:


> Has anyone here ever won any of the prizes given out for completing the survey?


Yes. Never the grand prize, but I have won the Amazon gift certificate.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

DevdogAZ said:


> I've completed every survey for the last several years. Probably at least 6-7 years. And no, I've never won anything.


Same here. Do every one, never won a thing


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## shadowplay0918 (May 16, 2011)

aaronwt said:


> Has anyone here ever won any of the prizes given out for completing the survey?


Have done them forever and haven't won anything either. Skipped a couple over the last 6 months, just tired of doing them.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

Dan203 said:


> Same here. Do every one, never won a thing


But they have given you a free Bolt, right?


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## samccfl99 (Sep 7, 2013)

In my opinion, most of the survey is usually fairly useless. They hardly ever ask any questions that I think are really pertinent. As for the movie section, every time I put a comment in I say they should add a column for "if you plan on watching the movie on DVD or cable". Whomever is in charge of this survey surely does not really want to know what people are thinking about a movie. Many people hardly ever go to theaters. I would think they would want to take that into consideration...

_AND NO, I NEVER WON ANYTHING EITHER.... I ALSO LOVE THE QUESTION AT THE END WHEN THEY ASK IF YOU WANT TO REGISTER TO BE ENTERED INTO THE CONTEST... _


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## kettledrum (Nov 17, 2003)

I've never won anything either and I have also filled them out regularly for years. I assume there are thousands of others who do the same.

I thought the optional part in the middle was a strange coincidence with this topic going on right now

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=540687


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

HarperVision said:


> But they have given you a free Bolt, right?


For my contribution to these forums.

Most of the stuff I've "won" over the years has required some sort of effort on my part. I'm not very lucky when it comes to random draw type contests.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

Dan203 said:


> For my contribution to these forums.
> 
> Most of the stuff I've "won" over the years has required some sort of effort on my part. I'm not very lucky when it comes to random draw type contests.


I know, I just thought I'd point that out! 

I'm sure you've earned MUCH more than what a Bolt is worth, dealing with bottom feeders like me here!


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