Annon Tivo
@pegs.com
| reply to Camelot One
Re: And here it comes....
Why everyone complains about ads i will never know. You can not tell me with a straight face the whole reason you bought a tivo was to skip ads. Thats complete bs and you and i know it, just like everyone else in the forum.
You bought tivo for the whole purpose of time shifting your material so you can watch it at a later date.
If you bought it to just skip ads you a fool and wasted your money. TIVO can and will do so much more. |
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djrobx
join:2000-05-31
Valencia, CA
 ·PHONE POWER
 ·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T CallVantage
·Time Warner VOIP
 ·RoadRunner Cable
2 edits | Well, TiVo's advertising campaign was "Skip the stuff you don't want to see". Yes, people DO, in fact, use TiVo to skip ads. I always do something else, waiting 15 minutes into a show before watching just so I can skip the ads.
Part of it is that TiVo is falling down a slippery slope.
First it was the star ads. TiVo swore up and down that it would not get worse. Now they've turned to banner ads (and they've tested some that consumed a good portion of the screen, not like that teeny little ad in the screenshot).
How long will it be until they insert ads in the guide? The Pick Programs to Record area? Ads that you can't fast forward through? Are they going to start charging even more money if you want to opt out of them? I understand TiVo needs to make money to survive, but slapping ads all over it rightfully turns the stomachs of many.
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\\ROB - a part of the SCB local network |
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n2jtx
join:2001-01-13
Glen Head, NY
·Optimum Online
| reply to Annon Tivo
said by Annon Tivo:
Why everyone complains about ads i will never know. You can not tell me with a straight face the whole reason you bought a tivo was to skip ads. Thats complete bs and you and i know it, just like everyone else in the forum. Skipping ads was probably reason #2, after timeshifting, why I bought my first VCR back in the early 1980's. For me, the problem with ads now is there are to damn many of them. Back in the 60's and early 70's, you had perhaps one minute of commercials at a break. No big deal. Now they waste anywhere from three to seven minutes of your life at a break and skipping has become a necessity. I remember about four or five years ago, the Sci-Fi channel was going to air all of the original Star Trek episodes unedited in their original broadcast length. Only problem was that with todays normal commercial breaks inserted, the 1960's programs would run about one hour and fifteen minutes. Go back to the old break lengths, quintuple the fees the advertisers pay to make up for it, and maybe skipping will be more hassle than it's worth.
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I support the right to keep and arm bears. |
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banditws6
Shrinking Time and Distance
join:2001-08-18
Naples, FL
·Comcast
| said by n2jtx  :I remember about four or five years ago, the Sci-Fi channel was going to air all of the original Star Trek episodes unedited in their original broadcast length. Only problem was that with todays normal commercial breaks inserted, the 1960's programs would run about one hour and fifteen minutes. Go back to the old break lengths, quintuple the fees the advertisers pay to make up for it, and maybe skipping will be more hassle than it's worth. You're right about break lengths. I remember this as well. They had to devote 1.5 or 2 hours to each Star Trek episode just to fit it in (although granted, they also had commentary from Shatner and Nimoy between acts). Whenever I would see a local channel airing TOS before Sci-Fi bought up the rights, the channel would have to step on the show (cut scenes immediately prior to or after a commercial) in order to stuff all the advertising in, and that's even above and beyond the syndication cuts Paramount already made in the '60s to allow for the original commercials.
Primetime shows are the worst. Sometimes you'll have five minutes of ads, then one of the show's acts will only last ten minutes before you get more commercials.
For me, the reason I bought a TiVo was also mostly for time-shifting, but the commercial skipping ability has become my second favorite feature. With that said, I don't mind them putting small ad banners (like the one in the screenshot seen here, NOT those huge ones demoed a few months ago) up while I'm fast-forwarding. As long as I'm still able to fast-forward, and the picture isn't obscured by an ad (else, how am I supposed to see when to stop fast-forwarding?).
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"I'll follow the law until it's just stupid." -Ted Nugent |
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grumpygeek
join:2004-12-14
Houston, TX
| I bought a Tivo for exactly the same reason - I like watching what I want, when I want. Tampon commercials and dissertations on fungus medications are not included in "what I want to watch".
Commercials have been almost identical in proportion to show times - 9 minutes for a 30-minute show, 18-19 minutes for a 60-minute show, for several decades. The advertisers have gotten smarter about how to place them, though - that's why you'll see a 6-minute break right before some important plot twist, instead of a four-minute break 10 minutes before it.
One thing to keep in mind is that the networks exist to sell commercial advertising; their method for selling that advertising is to surround it with programming that will catch eyeballs. |
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