On the tivos, 30-second-skip is a hidden feature that must be activated with a secret combination of keystrokes. On my tivo, the keystrokes are:

- Play something from your Now Playing menu so that you're in playback mode.
- SELECT
- PLAY
- SELECT
- THREE (3)
- ZERO (0)
- SELECT

If you've got sounds turned on, you should hear "bong bong bong" if you did it correctly.

Now, the two little curly-que buttons, the ones that normally skip to the end or the beginning of a program, go forward 30 seconds and back five seconds, respectively.

Please note: This setting is stored in volatile RAM, so if you lose power to the tivo, you'll need to do the S-P-S-3-0-S keystroke sequence to re-enable it. Before I had it memorized, I had that keystroke sequence written down on a sticker inside the battery hatch on my remote.