ABC Wants DVR Fast Forwarding Disabled 718
Anonymous CE Worker writes "The television network ABC is looking to develop technology that would disable the fast-forward button on DVRs, and allow commercials to run as intended on their channel." From the article: "Some research executives — even at networks with sales departments that acted differently — had argued before the upfront that ads viewed in fast-forward mode generated value for advertisers, since consumers were at least partly exposed to their messages. But Shaw said ABC was only interested in finding a way to receive compensation for un-skipped ads."
Hey, here's an idea! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Hey, here's an idea! (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course, I lie when I say "I don't understand". I fully understand: that would be hard. It takes talent and dedication to sit and come up with an engaging story that people will stick with, and that undermines the formulaic "churn 'em out" policies of network TV's reality TV cash cows. They'd also have to stop paying the outrageous 1/2 million an episode for big-name actors, which wouldn't go over at all, and god knows it would just be a horrible loss for the world if Jennifer Aniston couldn't make enough money to buy a goddamn Ferrari after every episode.
Whatever. I don't care what they do. Until my fiance moved in I had bunny ears that picked up PBS, CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox, and the only things I ever watched anyway were Nova, the local news, and Simpson reruns. I don't care what they do. Hopefully more people will wise up and stop plugging into the boob tube every night and send their stupid little marketing schemes into a death spiral with or without DVR.
Re:Hey, here's an idea! (Score:3, Interesting)
Watching TV = sleeping.
Reading, writing, and playing video games all require brain activity.
Blind Melon: "And all I can do is read a book to stay awake, It rips my life away, but it's a great escape."
The thing is that you can say that about ANYTHING. Isn't it equally wastefull to go to a bar and drink beer and play pool with your friends? Afterall, what good comes from it, ultimately?
But the difference is that watching TV is the only one where your brainwaves a
Re:Hey, here's an idea! (Score:3, Insightful)
Face it: with few exceptions, most of what passes for entertainment today sucks. Sure there are a few exceptions here and there, but what gets ratings is "reality shows" with no substance.
Re:Hey, here's an idea! (Score:4, Interesting)
That's why I pretty much only watch
Aside from those and few odds and ends...I really never watch commercial tv...I've not found anything interesting on them mostly for years. I like shows the make me belly laugh, or teach me something...the so called 'reality' stuff does neither. With a Tivo or MythTV..I can get plenty to watch that I like, and after awhile, I know neither what time it came on, nor what channel it came on. And I skip commercials with a vengence...
Re:Hey, here's an idea! (Score:4, Insightful)
Thief. Or at least, ABC and all the rest would like you to think so. Because you know, it's now your DUTY to watch television, where once they were grateful for your viewership - now it's your responsibility!
Re:Hey, here's an idea! (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe because we aren't "mindlessly" using our time.
Sitting in front of a box that prompts you when to laugh (laughtracks), what to buy (commercials), how to feel (fox news) is completely different than posting your OWN opinions on topics, reading about those topics, interacting with other people, and taking an active role in what is entertaining you and en
Re:Hey, here's an idea! (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't know much law, but to pull a precedent from what I do know, what about the Betamax case? That established that "private, noncommercial time-shifting in the home" counts as fair use under US law. If you can do whatever you like with TV shows that have been broadcast publicly, why did this case even reach the Supreme Court, and why did the justices add so many qualifications to the very limited use of home recording that they decided was legal?
I was under the impression that this still was in a bit of a 'grey area', since they were publicly aired...
The vast majority of the things that people believe are "grey areas" are, in fact, simple black-and-white questions that people just want to believe are grey, because it makes them feel better about doing something they know damn well is probably illegal.
Re:Piracy (was: Re:Hey, here's an idea!) (Score:3, Informative)
Yes, that would be a nice idea, wouldn't it?
Anything, and I mean ANYTHING that is shown over the ABC airwaves that is recorded and shared via the internet IS NOT piracy. Over the air television, HD or analog, is free for the taking.
Bullshit. Sorry, but that is complete and utter bullshit. "Let's be accurate about something." Just because something is shown over the airwaves does not mean it's free for the taking.
Unlike you, I will back up my claims with evidence.
It is no
Re:Hey, here's an idea! (Score:5, Funny)
Of course, the obnoxiousness of watching a five-minute commercial would immediately cause the folks still watching normal-speed TV to go out and get DVRs in order to FF through them; the end result would be that everyone would buy a DVR, and everyone would watch the same 30-second clips!
In time, there would be an 'arms race' between the networks and DVR companies, to see who could have faster fast-forwards, and who could have the slowest commercials. Just think: a two-hour Rogaine ad, transmitted at 0.5 fps.
Isn't technology beautiful?
Re:Hey, here's an idea! (Score:3, Interesting)
Depends on your DVR...on my MythTV [mythtv.org] box, I just hit a button, and it automagically skips ALL commercials instantly...there is no FF'ing..one button and ZAP you're back at your program.
It works about 98% of the time too...I very rarely see any commericials at all...aside from Superbowl Sunday.
Re:Hey, here's an idea! (Score:3, Interesting)
Thanks to DRM... (Score:4, Informative)
That's right. Thanks to DRM and the DMCA, I can't skip/FF all the junk on the original, but I can easily make a full quality copy without the restrictions.
At least with VHS tapes I could use a marker to write the time point where the movie started on the tape. Then I could FF there before hitting play. I thought technology would save me from that tedium.
You don't seem to understand the DMCA (Score:4, Informative)
By ripping that original and making a new copy of it without the restrictions, you have bypassed the copy protection and therefore broken the DMCA, a federal law. I obviously don't think doing that is wrong; I'm just pointing out that it is against the law. I'm just bringing up that both of the actions you described are technically illegal.
Re:Hey, here's an idea! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Hey, here's an idea! (Score:3, Funny)
Station wagons.
stupid (Score:5, Insightful)
NEWSFLASH: If your channel is the only one disabling fast forwarding then people aren't going to bother watching your shit in the first place.
Indeed (Score:5, Funny)
Whenever commercials come on TV, I SWITCH TO ANOTHER CHANNEL without commercials.
I bet next they'll try to disable the chan up/down buttons, the mute button, and the power button during commercials. Then they'll try to mandate all chairs have restraints that are activated right before commercials come on. Ooh, and little things to hold open your eyelids and ears...
Re:Indeed, Worse to Come for Networks (Score:3, Insightful)
TV's were rated indispensible by something around 40% and dropping.
Networks are BEHIND THE CURVE, & still trying to save the sales of buggy whips.
Time for a mass cleanout of Network Execs, to be replaced by people who have grown up with computers, as the new era is already here.
Re:Indeed (Score:4, Informative)
A little history first --
This is the reason that many years ago, the networks worked together (sort of) to carefully time their advertising so that it all runs at once. You flip the channel, and all the other channels have their adverts running in time-sync.
Cable channels made that a bit tougher to do, but for the most part everyone remains in-sync for ads.
The more modern way of doing it --
Lets not forget the gobs and gobs of "embedded advertising" that is out there. That Hummer on CSI-Miami is an embedded ad. Those Coca-Cola glasses on American Idol are another example. Anyplace that you can see a product name or brand name identity in a TV show is a paid advertisement.
Sticking with the CSI example, the camera they used to take pictures with used to have no name on it. The show got popular, and all of a sudden it became a Nikon camera.
Re:Indeed (Score:4, Informative)
It's not even particularly modern. Why do you think James Bond's signature drink is a vodka martini? Because the movie producers made a deal with Smirnoff. In 1962.
Re:Indeed (Score:4, Informative)
Actually, in the books, his 'martini' is quite strange, from Casino Royale : "Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet (a brand of dry vermouth). Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon-peel." He called it a vesper after a good looking agent. He asked for it to be served in a "a deep champagne goblet".
I'd heard about the Smirnoff deal for the movies, but, I've never found anything yet to confirm it.
Re:Indeed (Score:3, Informative)
Anyplace that you can see a product name or brand name identity in a TV show is a paid advertisement.
We work for the same company or something? Because tracking those product placements is what I do for a living. *Waves across the office at the only other slashdotter here.
Anyway. That's not quite accurate and your terms are a bit skewed, though this particular aspect of advertising is rather new and the lexicon hasn't quite settled yet.
"Embedded" advertising are traditional ads that appear wit
Re:stupid (Score:3, Insightful)
same answer given everytime this subject comes up.
You make advertisements people want to watch. heck I have even paused the GE comericials that have just a few frames for the DVR people to pause on.
I even pull the Harbor freight, and compUSA adds out of the sunday paper. I think DVR's will become the new AID to increase advertising. After all when all have HD DVR's they can put 1800 pages of decent resolution text on my TV in a
Fine by me... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Fine by me... (Score:3, Interesting)
When they took away commercial-skip on Fox News I didn't mind, because commercials are the most informative show on that network.
When they took away commercial-skip on Sci-Fi Network I didn't mind, because after watching 1000 commercials for "Mansquito" what harm is one more?
When they took away commercial-skip on Comedy Central it was too late to laugh.
Skip-bans are just a slippery slope to a
Re:Fine by me... (Score:4, Insightful)
If the networks could have us chained to our sofas and forced to watch advertising for 8 hours a day, kept awake by electrical jolts, they'd do it in a heartbeat.
So anything that makes their advertisers unhappy results in worse conditions for the herd. I mean viewers.
Re:Fine by me... (Score:4, Insightful)
I think you misspelled legislators
The technology already exists... (Score:2)
2) Tivo pushes "innocent" bios update
3) Suddenly you can't fast forward things recorded off channels with "ABC" associated with them.
Problem solved
Re:The technology already exists... (Score:4, Interesting)
No I don't, actually. I've had a TiVo since their first models came out and I don't recall any of them having a 30-second skip.
More on your topic: I'm on a fence with my TiVo. I'm worried about the whole DRM thing. It hasn't affected me yet, but the instant it does, TiVO will lose a household with three TiVOs in it immediately.
Re:The technology already exists... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:The technology already exists... (Score:3, Informative)
http://bigmarv.net/how/tivo30secondskip.html [bigmarv.net]
Whats the problem? (Score:5, Insightful)
More of the same ol' same ol' of screwing the consumer.
Re:Whats the problem? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Whats the problem? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Whats the problem? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Whats the problem? (Score:5, Funny)
Sure that's what you think now, but if you watch enough tampon commercials...
Maybe next time you are at the store you'll think to yourself, "Maybe I *do* need some tampons."Re:Whats the problem? (Score:3, Funny)
You're right, it's just not as appealing as beer. [redstripebeer.com]
Re:Whats the problem? (Score:2)
1 - the ad company is unimaginative and simply does the same-old-thing.
2 - the client wants this big ad campain but only wants to spend $29.50 on the commercial production.
result crap ad that nobody watches, best example is every ad for some stupid pill or other pharma-crap.
Ad's that get watch tons. VW unpimp ad's are typicalyl watched multiple times and have intense recall. Want a good example? the dod-bomb called outpost.com... they had a
Man Law! (Score:4, Funny)
**scribes your post into large book**
Re:Whats the problem? (Score:5, Funny)
This would not be pretty (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, an important part of advertising is getting people to hear your message. However, it's also important not to inspire feelings of hatred toward you by trying to force your message down people's throats. If the net result of your invasive advertising is that everyone hates you, how is that a good thing for the advertiser?
Re:This would not be pretty (Score:3, Interesting)
Don't be tricked into thinking ABC broadcasts shows to make money. ABC sells the time of a captive audience (you) to adv
Re:This would not be pretty (Score:3, Insightful)
I dare you to watch late night Comedy Central without timeshifting and fast forward.
Sure, trying to look between the DVD boxes in the Girls Gone Wild commercials are OK the first 50-100 times you see them, but after that, good old fashioned free hardcore porn is
Re:This would not be pretty (Score:3, Interesting)
Or they will wait till their favorite show comes out on DVD. Or they willl download them off the Internet, where someone will have posted them after ripping out the commercials. Or people will give up watching ABC and switch to another network or abandon network TV altogether. The number of responses that would hurt ABC is so large, that if they do this, it spells their doom. I
Right.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Any DVR manufacturer that goes along with making a DVR less useful than a VCR is going to suffer in a huge way. In 1988 we had a VCR with a 30-second fastforward button.
I'm not even going to get into how making someone watch commercials is wrong.
Re:Right.... (Score:3, Insightful)
This is the commercial mindset: authoritarian and deceitful.
Re:Right.... (Score:3, Interesting)
There wa
Aw piss on 'em (Score:5, Insightful)
ABC was only interested in finding a way to receive compensation for un-skipped ads
Whoops, time to change their business model!
Let me introduce myself. I'm an olde farte. I was a teenager back in the 1970's when they were laying the first cable around our neighbourhood. Back then people (the They as in "they say ...") said "nobody will pay for what they already
get for free" and "nobody will pay to see advertising." Well... "they" were wrong as it turns out, people now pay upwards of
50$US for the honour of watching bad programmes and watching Enzyte Bob lose his shorts (tell me those floats in the pool
aren't phallic, go on).
Now it's the content providers who are insisting the viewer (those with satellite and cable) watch the advertisements they are already paying to see.
<Stimpy>Ironic, huh, Ren?</Stimpy>
Time for network execs and particularly the viewers to wake up and smell the coffee.
Re:Aw piss on 'em (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Aw piss on 'em (Score:4, Interesting)
Sure, and better yet the business model already exists -- take your network to a pay basis like HBO or Showtime.
The big problem with that approach for ABC, of course, is that it requires that you have decent television that people will actually shell out a few bucks a month to watch. I mean, "Grey's Anatomy" might be all well and good for a network show, but put it up against "Rescue Me" on FX or "Deadwood" on HBO and it's revealed for the lame-brained homogenized crap that it is.
The networks should be the last people with any input into the technology that will define the future of the TV industry. All the decent television is elsewhere, either on HBO or SciFi or Comedy Central or other channels that were never broadcast through the air to begin with. Listening to ABC's bright ideas here is like, well, listening to the music industry when they tell us that the only legitimate way to listen to music is on a CD that we paid full price for and will never lend to a friend or resell ('cause that's just like stealing, you know).
While they're at it (Score:5, Funny)
Re:While they're at it (Score:4, Informative)
They never learn (Score:2)
Re:They never learn (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:They never learn (Score:5, Insightful)
What would it take to MOTIVATE you not to use the word "incentivise" ever again? Do you think that using (not utilizing!) large words makes you sound more intelligent?
It makes you sound like a blathering idiot who doesn't know the language.
Ok -- there -- I feel better now. My co-workers thank you for diverting my flames from them for the rest of the day.
P.S. I'm waiting for someone to post that incentivise is a perfectly cromulent word.
Re:They never learn (Score:3, Funny)
Incentivise is a perfectly cromulent word. Personally I find that utilizing large words embiggens us all.
Nothing to see here (Score:2)
Unless you've been living under a rock for the last ten years, this announcement should come as no surprise. Nothing to see here folks, move along.
Screw that... (Score:5, Interesting)
No commericials, no annoying crap. I get more done, and if there is anything I want to watch, then I download it off of one of the many sources of free video.
Quality and instant (yet horribly scheduled) access is the only thing TV networks have going for them, now.
Mighty VHS Skillz! (Score:2)
Not that I watch, much less record anything on ABC...
Re:Mighty VHS Skillz! (Score:3, Insightful)
Next thing you know, I'll start incurring Paradox when mundanes see me slinging fireballs around.
somewhat unrelated DRM rant (Score:5, Insightful)
yes I do understand that if I copy this disc I just bought I will get into trouble, yes, I known this since vhs cassettes in my youth thank you very much
that will probably never change, but I think dvd player fabricants should enable skip option on content you paid for...
Re:somewhat unrelated DRM rant (Score:3, Informative)
Re:somewhat unrelated DRM rant (Score:3, Informative)
1) insert the DVD and allow it to play automatically
2) on the DVD box itself, hit the "STOP" button (the one on the remote won't work)
3) on the remote, hit the "MENU" button
This should bring you directly to the DVD menu without all the "crap" like the FBI/Interpol warnings and all the previews.
Good luck!
-jkc
On Screen Ads (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:On Screen Ads (Score:3, Interesting)
It's gotten to the point where I won't watch USA anymore, nor TNT or a few of the others like them. What's the point when I'm not actually allowed to watch the show?
I can't understand why the show's producers don't fight the stations on it, the stations
Re:On Screen Ads (Score:3, Funny)
Well, that would explain the smile...
Explain, please? (Score:3, Insightful)
If a person skips an ad (or, fast forwards it), they very obviously had no desire to ever submit dollars to that product/company, or would do so already without the ad in the first place.
The difference is the bottom line (Score:5, Insightful)
Advertisers are concerned about DVR fast forwarding diminishing the reach of their advertising and they are right to, it is diminishing the reach of their advertising. Advertisers pay networks for that reach so networks are justifiably concerned about the rise of DVRs impacting their revenue. ABC's arguments that people don't have the right and (most amusingly) don't really want to FF through ads are idiotic, but the counter-argument that ad-skipping is not going to mess with the business model of sponsored television doesn't hold water either.
Next they will come for your mute button (Score:2)
The future is becoming more and more like the one predicted on Max Headroom. Some day it will be illegal to turn the TV off.
Today's acronyms: ABC FOAD (Score:2, Insightful)
So they want to force viewers to watch obnoxious commercials? Here's some news, Mr. VP -- you can't. And the harder you try, the less success you'll have. You see, you have to entice viewers, not force. This is simply Proof #482 that these 'executives' don't understand that pissed off customers don't buy stuff. True, their real customers are the advertising companies, but stations live and die by their viewer numbers ("share
uhhh (Score:2)
So can I sign-up to not have commericals? They aren't working on me it only seems fair. Or is there new technology coming out that wil
That isn't what they're doing (Score:3, Insightful)
Unskipped ads only (Score:4, Interesting)
I trully believe that it is enough that my parents already pay for the dish service (ExpressVu in Canada,) and I trully don't care about the networks' desire to make money on commercials.
---
(going on a tangent here)
By the way, I really reduced the number of visits to the local movie theaters, I went to watch the Superman though and it was terrible experience: it was a 10pm show and people brought their 2-3 year old kids, a family right behind us had 4 of these things at the same time and it was impossible to get the parents to shut the little pricks up. And one of the parents at the end of the movie started yelling at me: you can't treat kids that way, what do you have against kids (the guy was from India I think, but it should be irrelevant in principle,) I told him he should have kept the brats at home and not bring them to the 10pm show that ended at 1am. He wouldn't stop yelling, so I asked him if he wants to take it outside, he didn't, oh well. And by the way, the movie was supposed to start at 10pm, but it only started at 10:20, and they went through all the garbage commercials and all the little good drones/zombies were watching those commercials as if their lives depended on them and I was studying the drones, they were almost drooling with those gigantic backets of pop-corn.
I know why I don't go to the movies: little kids, big up kids, popcorn, noise, (oh yeah, one of those parents behind us left his cell on and was yapping on it for sometime during the movie,) commercials for anything, not just movies, then 20 minutes of movie commercials.
---
Fuck the movie theaters. And fuck the ABC network producers, we already pay to watch their garbage and they just have to stick it to us with all these commercials AND now they want to prevent us from skipping the commercials.
Man I am glad I don't have a TV at home.
Re:Movies (was: Unskipped ads only) (Score:5, Interesting)
This is why I only watch movies at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas [originalalamo.com] here in Austin. No children except at special showings (for Superman, no children under 6 and then only with parent). Even then, if they are noisy they will get thrown out. Also, no commercials and special movie-themed pre-show entertainment. (Unless you consider previews commercials, or 60's-era Car commercials before the movie Cars to be annoying commercials rather than fun pre-show entertainment... which I don't).
Also, they have good beer. Hooray, beer!
Seriously, if you like movies, the Alamo is a good reason to move to Austin. Or, at least, to visit.
Solved... (Score:2)
-- RLJ
Retard Alert (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm not going to be converted to some life insurance, or a box of cookies, so why am I watching ads for those things? Rather, why are these people throwing money away on me if it's not going to turn into a conversion for them?
I skip any commercial I'm not interested in, and that's an awful lot of them. If I woke up one day and my fast-forward button no longer skipped commercials, it wouldn't equal a new conversion for these guys. So they'd still be out the money for the commercial, and on top of that, the money they gave to the lobbyist to disable my fast-forward button.
This is like saying spam-blockers are hurting the business of Viagra and timeshares. The people using blocking and deleting spam aren't going to buy viagra if just those spam-blockers were somehow less effective, and what's next, stopping the delete button from functioning when it's an advertisement?
Does ABC really think that if only they could get us to watch more SPAM, they'd somehow make more money?
Sometimes it's a requirement (Score:2)
I don't think that requring me to sit through 45 minutes of irrelevant garbage is a good idea. Same with races. I re
I want to disable... (Score:5, Interesting)
...cars that are pissing me off on the highway.
...cell phones of people in the grocery store with those stupid BlueTooth headsets.
...push-to-talk on cell phones.
...Blackberries.
Is there any reason why ABC should be allowed to disable someone else's equipment that they don't like, and that I should not be allowed?
Re:I want to disable... (Score:4, Funny)
Nice marketing there (Score:3, Insightful)
I barely watch TV anymore, and commercials are one big reason why. I'm so used to being able to choose exactly what I see and hear that I find the idea of passively accepting ads unacceptable; the annoyance level spoils shows for me. Note that I *am* willing to pay for programming; I'd just rather do it directly, through subscription fees, than have content force-fed to me on the remote chance it might make me buy something.
I see more commercials with Tivo (Score:4, Insightful)
And what's with commercials being twice as loud as the show you're watching!
-Ben
Shaw, pshaw! (Score:5, Insightful)
From the article, an opinion by the ABC tool Shaw:
Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong wrong! Mr. Shaw! What a tool you've turned out to be. People are not grateful for the timeshifting of their shows... they're grateful for being in control of their watching preferences. Some will watch commercials and will do so whether or not they can skip the ads. Others don't ever watch ads, don't ever want to, but happen to inadvertantly bump into ads every once in a while -- that's the best you're going to get with them.
You want to piss off the customers? Disable the fast forward during commercials... Plain and simple... there will be a backlash.
Too many ads is the base problem. (Score:5, Insightful)
With 22 commercials per hour, it is not worth the time to watch the show live.
Surprising? (Score:3, Interesting)
*) they put their best shows up against the other network's best shows. Sun Tzu said to attack where your enemy is weak. Therefore, when otherwise perfectly fine shows are put up against a category blockbuster, such as Friends, or Seinfeld, they are killed quickly. Altering the schedule to put good shows up against the competition's bad shows would increase the number of viewers for that show.
*) Sun Tzu also said that the place of battle must not be known to the enemy. I think that Thursday night at 8:00 PM is a known place of battle. If the networks were smart, they would have surprised their enemies and aired a good show on Tuesday night.
If Machiavelli is your cup of tea, multiple violations can be seen there as well, such as a failure to heed Chapter XIX: "That One Should Avoid Being Despised And Hated".
Stupid Idea... (Score:3, Interesting)
They're throwing us in the briar patch... (Score:3, Insightful)
They could be shooting themselves in the foot with this one because it so clearly subtracts a capability that everybody has had for nearly 25 years with VCRs. I imagine even FCC commissioners and congressmen fast-forward now and then.
And if they succeed? TV becomes less watchable and just buying the show, more desireable. More and more people will give up on anything not enhanced by it's "live" nature (sports, Idol, etc) and just get the download (legal or not) or of course buy or rent the series on DVD a year later.
Which means the production company still has a business model, but the TV network, not.
"It is difficult to produce a television documentary that is both incisive and probing when every twelve minutes one is interrupted by twelve dancing rabbits singing about toilet paper."
- Rod Serling
When this happens .... (Score:5, Interesting)
I can't tolerate live TV as it is, and I have occasionally rewound an ad which looked funny which I had skipped. (Like those great VW ads about unpimpin' your ride
I won't watch yout (*&#^ Kotex, McDonald's, or Huggies commercials because I can guarantee I will ever be a consumer. Your ad contract with ABC does not extend to me.
I wish advertisers would outgrow this belief that I am somehow morally/legally bound to watch the stuff I don't want to see that they paid someone else for. Pay me a few hundred extra/month, and I'll personally watch all of the ads during all of the TV I watch. Otherwise, go away!!
new idea (Score:3, Insightful)
Gads, this is already getting stupid and they want to pile on more crap?
As if having ads every 5 min now (usually for their shows) and running a little ad in the corner for their next show and a logo that seems stuck to my screen just isn't enough....
I used to get DVDs instead but even those are getting too annoying to bother with. I mostly buy/rent older stuff, much less annoying crap on em. People pay big for convenience, why keep making your stuff less so ?!?
I made an interesting discovery when i was home during the day last week. Perry Mason must have a 100-year distribution agreement for no cuts...the commercials weren't even enough to go pee. I swear there were like 4 60-90 sec breaks the whole hour.
Would not an in-band signal be required? (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh please do this! I hope all channels do this!
There would have to be some signal that "commercial starts here" and "commercial ends here," otherwise how would the DVR know when to disable fast forward? The OSS DVRs, such as MythTV, could key in on the signal and outright block the commercials entirely. Wow... sign me up!
Better yet... (Score:5, Funny)
PBS (Score:5, Insightful)
Just my two cents,
(I would expect lots of geek and nerd comments but I am posting to
A la carte TV (Score:3, Insightful)
Simple solution.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Dear sirs,
I was forced to watch your commercial on my dvr last night because ABC has taken it upon themselves to somehow deactivate the fast forward button function. They state they do so to benefit their advertisors. Why your company and ABC believes it has the right to break a piece of equipment that I worked very hard to save for and to purchase, I do not understand. However, since that is your position and my dvr is no longer functioning correctly, I am no longer going to purchase the products you manufacture. Not only that, I am telling my friends and family to boycott your products as well.
Sincerely,
Then follow through on it. Most likely, you will get a letter back saying it is not their policy to do this, but ABC and that they have no control over it. However, companies take serious the threats of boycotts, particularly when they are on grounds such as these. If they have enough complaints, they'll pressure ABC to quit or they will pull their advertising. Either way, in the end, ABC will have to change the practice.
Re:I see no ads (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:I see no ads (Score:5, Insightful)
You are watching 1 hour of Television a day.
Ads on US television, 3 minutes every 10 minutes - rough estimate.
1 x 6 x 3 x 365 = 6570 minutes per annum = 109 hours per annum.
What's your time worth $10/hour (conservative figure)?
So that's $1090 p.a. for pretty crappy programming vs £150 p.a for what is without a doubt the best television in the world.
You've been had, mate!
Re:I see no ads (Score:3, Informative)
Then last == never. Because it's never had ads. Ever. That's the whole point of the license: it makes the Beeb independent of commercial interests. At least in theory. From my experience that independence has had the interesting side-effect of pretty much forcing commerical TV in Britain also to act fairly independently of the people that advertise on their channels.
Re:I see no ads (Score:4, Interesting)
Well perhaps you missed:
Shameless
Black Books
Ideal
Dr Who
BBC documentaries (some of the best in the world: Private life of plants, string theory, etc)
Battlestar Galactica
IT Crowd
The office (UK)
Ali G
Alan Partridge
That show about the priest who lives on the island that i forget the name of...
And im sure ive forgotten a few. Even their shitty sitcoms (read little britian) are way funnier than the popular ones in the us (eg friends).
The only worthwhile american tv is from HBO and PBS. Unless you like watching 'CSI: please kill us now' editions interspursed with reality tv and dating shows.
Re:Make better commercials (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:This just in... (Score:4, Insightful)
Then they decided to get even more money by charging us and getting money from advertisers. Then they decided to get even more money by putting more commercials. Then they decided they could get even more money by raising rates and tying users with tiers with crap they dont need. Now they want even more money by skipping commercials ff options. Where does it end? People are paying $100 a month because there is a show they like on HBO on only that tier offers it and for every 30 minute show there are over 15 minutes of commercials.
Is this what this crap buys?
No wonder I refuse to watch any tv. There are some shows I like such as Boston Legal and the West wing but I refuse to just sit there and stare at a tube?? Especially if half the content is now crap.
Back in the 60's you had only 1 or 2 30 second commercials and you could live with antenna.