blu87
join:2004-03-23
united state | [VOD] Can't Fast Forward On Demand About one month ago a Comcast tech finally (and inadvertently) got On Demand working again after two years of not having it work (error 7 or 14, can't remember).
So I went to watch a TV show a week or so ago and noticed a disclaimer that the Fast Forward feature was disabled for that show. From what I've read, it looks like it's the TV networks that are making that decision, not Comcast. Now I could understand not being able to fast forward through a commercial, but what's the issue with fast forwarding through a TV show? The only thing I can figure is that it's related to advertising within the show(s) via product placement. I noticed that Biggest Loser is the worst show for that. In fact, that's why I stopped watching it years ago. I got tired of them shoving Jennie-O and Yoplait in my face all the time (along with their misinformation on sleep apnea).
Anyway... Is there a way to fast forward through these shows? Someone on another board mentioned that the Page Down button would skip ahead five minutes, but that doesn't work for me. And does anyone know who I should complain to about this? It's really annoying when you only want to watch the last 10 minutes or so of a one or two hour show. |
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 madylarianThe curmudgeonlyPremium
join:2002-01-03
Parkville, MD | Complain to the advertisers. Who do you think is paying for these TV shows? They are the ones who don't want you to FF through the commercials and since they provide the $$$, they call the shots. What....you thought that broadcast TV was free????
mady
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Honi soit qui mal y pense |
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 owlynPremium,MVM
join:2004-06-05
Newtown, PA | reply to blu87
Fox and ABC disable the FF feature. But- the 5 minute skip ahead does work, as does the rewind. I skip ahead 5 minutes and then rewind back to where the commercials end. |
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andyrossPremium,MVM
join:2003-05-04
Schaumburg, IL | Some have said that the 5 minute skip using PageUp doesn't work. It may depend on the area and/or box model. |
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| said by andyross:Some have said that the 5 minute skip using PageUp doesn't work. It may depend on the area and/or box model.
It works on my new X1 box. |
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| reply to andyross
Could be on a per show basis as well as a per network basis |
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blu87
join:2004-03-23
united state | reply to madylarian
said by madylarian:Complain to the advertisers. Who do you think is paying for these TV shows? They are the ones who don't want you to FF through the commercials and since they provide the $$$, they call the shots. What....you thought that broadcast TV was free????
mady
I'm not talking about the commercials. I don't give a crap about the commercials. I want to know why I can't FF through the d*mn shows. That's why I started this thread, not because of the commercials. Geez! Doesn't anyone read anymore.
If I only want to watch the last 5-10 minutes of a 1 hr (45 min) show, I have to either sit there through the whole thing or leave it on and time things so I come back for the last 5 minutes. That's annoying. And there are some shows where I just want to skip through certain things because it's plain boring. |
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| But that IS because of the commercials. There isn't a way to differentiate between the commercial and the actual show so they just lock it down because the viewing practice you described isn't done by most viewers. |
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