Nothing Gets Out Vampire Stains Like Tide

It's not just the music industry that's up in arms about digital recording ... TiVo and ReplayTV have barely penetrated the market and are already causing folks like Turner Broadcasting's chief to imply that if you skip the commercials, you're stealing tv shows. My prediction: it won't be long before we see a return to tv shows incorporating sponsorship into the programming. Remember how Carson used to pimp dog food before the commericials? Expect to see more of that. As the consumer becomes more able to filter out commercials automatically using PVRs, the producers will just start grinding them further into the shows themselves. Buffy's got a stain on her sweater from staking a vamp? Soon she'll have a box of Tide in hand extolling its virtues as a lead-in to the commercial break.