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dolphins
Clean Up Our Oceans
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join:2001-08-22
Westville, NJ

dolphins

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[Rant] On Demand and Commercials

Wow, are you freakin' kidding me. I was going to watch a TV show that I had missed earlier in the week. I found it in the On Demand menu and much to my disgust there was a disclaimer at the beginning that stated, the fast forward feature is disabled on these programs. I did not watch the TV show because I was so disgusted at the greed of Comcast, the advertising industry and the entertainment industry.

If there wasn't others here in my house that watch a lot of TV, I would have cancelled cable TV immediately.
voipnpots
join:2011-10-13
USA

voipnpots

Member

I was shocked as well as to how many commercials there were for On Demand shows. It's like double that of regular TV channels.

I find the convenience of On Demand worth having to put up with the commercials though.

dolphins
Clean Up Our Oceans
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join:2001-08-22
Westville, NJ

dolphins

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Yes, but to disable the FF feature is the straw that broke my back.

bohratom
My Jersey Giants finally winning again..
join:2011-07-07
Red Bank NJ

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Don't blame comcast as they are just following the terms and conditions of the broadcaster. All on demand material is maintained by, updated by and managed by the broadcaster. FOX is one broadcaster that disables FF for many if not all of its on demand.
saratoga66
join:2002-08-22
Saratoga, CA

saratoga66

Member

said by bohratom:

Don't blame comcast as they are just following the terms and conditions of the broadcaster. All on demand material is maintained by, updated by and managed by the broadcaster. FOX is one broadcaster that disables FF for many if not all of its on demand.

I agree. This is out of Comcast's control.

dolphins
Clean Up Our Oceans
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join:2001-08-22
Westville, NJ

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So your telling me all the On Demand programs are maintained on the original broadcaster's servers and not on Comcast servers?

bohratom
My Jersey Giants finally winning again..
join:2011-07-07
Red Bank NJ

bohratom

Member

said by dolphins:

So your telling me all the On Demand programs are maintained on the original broadcaster's servers and not on Comcast servers?

Storage could be by the provider but management and rules for the media are done by the broadcaster.

dolphins
Clean Up Our Oceans
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join:2001-08-22
Westville, NJ

dolphins

Premium Member

No, there's something more involved here, most likely greed. I could DVR the shows and the FF feature would work because it's downloaded to the HDD in my receiver. So the media rules/regulations become null.
yhp
join:2006-12-27
Philadelphia, PA

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quote:
Yes, but to disable the FF feature is the straw that broke my back.
Be careful what you wish for. When I had OnDemand (and maybe it's been fixed since then.... oh, who am I kidding?), FFWD worked, but in one and exactly one speed (unlike DVR or live TV with DVR service, which has several speeds), and it wasn't all that speedy or responsive.

I soon discovered that when I was trying to FFWD past ads, I was spending more fixed attention on the ad I was trying to skip than the advertiser could have possibly dreamed, because stopping and starting in the right place with OnDemand FFWD was such a delicate operation demanding a different set of skills than navigating normal DVR recordings.

I "lost" OnDemand when I switched to Digital Economy, but I had stopped using the POS long before that.
CH101
join:2010-04-28
Cherry Hill, NJ

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The disabled FF is one of the terms that the broadcaster(s) dictated as part of the agreement to let their recent content be available through ondemand. If Comcast said no to it, then the broadcasters wouldn't let their recent content be available through ondemand. See this news story that mentions FF being disabled: »ondemandweekly.com/blog/ ··· _demand/

I personally rather deal with the no FF and have shows available ondemand just a few hours after their broadcast, rather than having to go through the hassle of watching them online. Especially since FOX now makes you wait a week after broadcast to watch their shows unless you are a DN subscriber.
The Q
join:2008-06-26
Collegeville, PA

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said by dolphins:

No, there's something more involved here, most likely greed. I could DVR the shows and the FF feature would work because it's downloaded to the HDD in my receiver. So the media rules/regulations become null.


There are likely different rules and agreements governing what you record yourself (like on a DVR) compared to what a company (like comcast) records for you and where the content physically resides.

The commercials pay for the content. That is how the content is made available.

beerbum
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join:2000-05-06
behind you..
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said by voipnpots:

I was shocked as well as to how many commercials there were for On Demand shows. It's like double that of regular TV channels.

It seems that the network and type/popularity of show determine the number of commercials.. for example CBS and NBC for their hour long drama shows, they have the normal commercial breaks in On Demand, but in general there is only one maybe two very short commercials and it's back to the show..

now AMC and ScyFi - they piss me off completely.. On Demand for one of their popular series they will run 7-9 full length commercials at each and every commercial break.. TBS and TNT will do that too sometimes plus they shut off the fast-forward feature..

dolphins
Clean Up Our Oceans
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join:2001-08-22
Westville, NJ

dolphins

Premium Member

Yes, some channels are worse than others. It's to the point now that your basically watching a nonstop stream of commercials with bits and pieces of TV shows and movies thrown in as a buffer. Replayed movies are edited for commercial time allotment to the point of being unwatchable.

A few years ago I actually time a movie replayed on the Spike channel and posted the results here.

»Commercialized Television
RalphKramden
join:2007-01-10
Newtown, PA

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said by dolphins:

I could DVR the shows and the FF feature would work because it's downloaded to the HDD in my receiver.

There's your solution - DVR instead of On Demand.

I've noticed that for some shows (TBS On Demand is one example) a screen at the beginning says "FF may be disabled..." but it isn't - works just fine.

In any case, the owner of the content sets the rules.

gar187er
I DID this for a living
join:2006-06-24
Seattle, WA

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its the broadcasters....thats why until a year or two ago you couldnt find all the major networks on ondemand....then to sign them onboard they demanded that they put ads and disable skipping of them, cause they were afriad of losing out on ad revenue.

why do people always blame the provider?
yhp
join:2006-12-27
Philadelphia, PA

yhp

Member

quote:
why do people always blame the provider?

Because it's a shitty deal for customers, and the provider signed it?

Because "Hey - better than nothing" is no longer good enough for even a company of Comcast's mediocrity?

Orlando57
@comcast.net

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Orlando57

Anon

So how is it a shitty deal for the customer? You can at least watch the content now.

How about this, why doesn't comcast just drop all channels that show commercials. Then you would have about six channels to watch.

Three years ago it was watermarking on the screen. Why does Comcast allow watermarking. It distracts me! Why don't they tell they broadcasters to stop it? Because Comcast doesn't control the content.

Lately it has been the little pop up stuff for upcoming program. Complainers think this is Comcasts fault. Again the broadcaster puts that in not Comcast.

Lets take it another step. I watch a pay per view movie. why can't I record it on my DVR? Because the owner of the program dictates how many times or how long the customer can watch it. Comcast doesn't determine that, the owner of the program does. And the owner of the program tells comcast if you want my program on On Demand you can't let customers record it.

If you don't want to watch commercials don't push the on-demand button.

IMO, this is not a big deal.
Expand your moderator at work

owlyn
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Newtown, PA

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Re: [Rant] On Demand and Commercials

The FF is disabled, but the skip ahead 5 minutes is not. Do what I do- skip ahead 5 mins, and then rewind. Problem solved (for the most part). But what I mostly do is make sure I DVR FOX and ABC shows so I don't have to watch via On Demand.

dolphins
Clean Up Our Oceans
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join:2001-08-22
Westville, NJ

dolphins

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OK, just so there is no misunderstanding. I'm not singling out Comcast it just so happens that Comcast is my current provider is all. In my OP I mentioned the advertising industry, the entertainment industry along with my current provider because all 3 have a say in what I'm able to view.

So let's not turn this into an argument.

The topic is about how commercials are being forced on those of us who pay for TV service.

bohratom
My Jersey Giants finally winning again..
join:2011-07-07
Red Bank NJ

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said by owlyn:

The FF is disabled, but the skip ahead 5 minutes is not.

Call me a noob but when I hit skip key (next) it does nothing.

BTW I do not have a DVR so that may be why skip does not work.
yhp
join:2006-12-27
Philadelphia, PA

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said by dolphins:

OK, just so there is no misunderstanding. I'm not singling out Comcast it just so happens that Comcast is my current provider is all.

At one point, a high-ranking exec somewhere in the content cartel (Paramount?) publicly likened use of the Fast-Forward button on digital recordings to thievery. So, to give the devil his due, I don't envy Comcast one iota in having to negotiate with these psychopaths...

That said, while OnDemand was once an OK/nice service to have - taking the good and the bad, things evened out - it only went downhill with every change. I gave up on it even before they signed on with FOX/ABC/no FF.
ctggzg
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join:2005-02-11
USA

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said by dolphins:

No, there's something more involved here, most likely greed.

Yeah, can't stand those evil companies trying to make money. They should be obligated to provide entertainment for free.

Sunny
Runs from Clowns

join:2001-08-19

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And I am glad to have it instead of the extra cost of DVR. But then, I'm greedy.
yhp
join:2006-12-27
Philadelphia, PA

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said by ctggzg:

said by dolphins:

No, there's something more involved here, most likely greed.

Yeah, can't stand those evil companies trying to make money. They should be obligated to provide entertainment for free.

Comcast "On Demand" isn't free. If it were, it would be available with a Digital Economy subscription, yet it is not. And content availability on Comcast "On Demand" is often contingent upon the packages/premiums the subscriber buys monthly. For money.

As for the rest - network shows, etc. - ad-supported entertainment is ad-supported entertainment, everyone knows what it is at this point, and everyone has the option of not bothering.

But to quote from Xfinity's front page -- right now:
Over 75,000 On Demand shows and movies on TV or streaming
online – and half are free.
"Ad-supported" is not free.

bohratom
My Jersey Giants finally winning again..
join:2011-07-07
Red Bank NJ

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bohratom

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said by yhp:

"Ad-supported" is not free.

But then people say over the air DTV is free....
yhp
join:2006-12-27
Philadelphia, PA

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said by Sunny:

And I am glad to have it instead of the extra cost of DVR. But then, I'm greedy.

Depending on one's cable config, DVR service is only an extra $7/month, not an extra $17/month ... depends on whether your tier gets you nickel-and-dimed for "HD Access" at $9 or $10 a month. At the tiers which represent what I'm willing to spend on TV, "HD Access" is definitely an itemized $9 or $10/month.

I actually didn't mind the commercials in sitcoms on OnDemand - they are a 30-minute artform made to be interrupted and delivered in a certain rhythm. OnDemand had far more serious problems than the occasional commercial you couldn't skip.
yhp

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said by bohratom:

said by yhp:

"Ad-supported" is not free.

But then people say over the air DTV is free....

An off-the-shelf DVR + OTA TV == you can fast-forward through ads.

dolphins
Clean Up Our Oceans
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Westville, NJ

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Follow the link I posted here »Re: [Rant] On Demand and Commercials

Do you think it's fair that 23 minutes of the original movie was cut out to allow for commercials? The movie had been edited so much that the original storyline and entertainment factor was missing.

Where do you draw the line and say enough is enough?

You can't argue the fact that the entertainment industry and the advertising industry are making money hand over fist. They still rake in the cash even when the economy is in the dumper. So forgive me if I'm not sympathetic to the plight of the exceedingly rich and wealthy.
dishrich
join:2006-05-12
Springfield, IL

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dishrich

Member

So you basically now are finding out all that "FREE On-Demand" is NOT really FREE then - hello, it's also 2012 now. That's exactly why I would NEVER use OD as a "DVR substitute" myself, & why I've never understood why people are so geeked up about it. (not to mention the lack of compelling prog, at least for myself, IMHO)
And just so this isn't sounding like I'm "dumping on CC" - my comments apply to OD from ALL providers in general, including DirecTV & DISH. (their OD is even more of a joke, since you HAVE to have a DVR to use it, as you have to wait for it to start buffering on the hard drive before you can even start watching it; of course, your wait time depends on your internet connection...)

And of course it's outrageous there's THAT much commercial time on network prog - but there IS a solution. Spring for a DVR & you CAN skip all the commercials you want - problem solved.
I'll even go 1 better than that - want to cut the (cable) cord & NOT have to pay (monthly) for all those OTA commercials? Here's a DVR solution w/NO monthly fees, & you can skip commercials to your heart's content:

»www.channelmasterstore.c ··· 7400.htm