TiVo attempts to predict 'Idol' results

The operators of the TiVo digital video recorder have been predicting - often successfully - the result of each week's American Idol.

The TiVo StopWatch product, used by 20,000 subscribers in the US, allows the firm to monitor when viewers are fast-forwarding or rewinding their recorded programmes.

By analysing the information for American Idol - looking in particular at which acts viewers choose to skip through - TiVo staff have been making a weekly guess at who will get voted off.

They have made at least five correct predictions during the current season, they said, though several have also been wrong, including the only guess made public - that Syesha Mercado would go in the week of April 10.

Todd Juenger, a TiVo vice president, said the company's engineers had the idea when they noticed that some acts prompted more viewers to fast-forward. He said TiVo was also looking at other applications.

"We are already in conversation with political organisations to think about how they might use this type of data to monitor debates or even things like the evening news,” he said.

Cécile Frot-Coutaz, an executive producer on Idol, said she was not concerned about attempts to forecast the outcome, noting the show "is as much about the journey as it is about the endpoint".