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Advertisers Think You Want to Watch Ads

Posted by Dana Vinson - Friday, July 07, 2006 3:37 PM

Man, isn't that a load of crap? ABC is meeting with cable providers to try and convince them that you don't want a fast-forward button on your DVR and that, instead, you'd like to sit through commercials.

According to this fool from ABC, the attraction of having a DVR is not that you can avoid commercials--no--it's the ability to have on demand programming.

Now, I agree that part of the charm of TiVo is that you can watch whatever you want whenever you want, but the other large, humungous part of its charm is that you can fast forward through all the inane drivel channels call advertising. I mark that as a unchecked bonus in my book and one of the main reasons I am a TiVo fundamentalist.

The only thing that is going to come of this is that your DVR won't come with a fast forward button in the future, but I'm counting on some people who are smarter than I am to come up with a hack for this.

MediaPostPublications.com: ABC Looks Beyond Upfront To DVR, Commercial Ratings Issues




Comment(s)

Posted by sithlord_Hawk - Friday, July 7, 2006 8:12 PM

what the snap!?! you gotta be kidding me I don't own a DVR but I can tell you right now that whatever they think we might sit through commericals that is boring...o well i guess when they gotta pay the bills they have to but still if we wanted to sit through commericals then why the hell do we buy DVD seasons?!

Posted by anutjob - Friday, July 7, 2006 9:10 PM

Sometimes commercials can be very entertaining I dont see the problem.

Posted by bao21 - Friday, July 7, 2006 9:12 PM

It's all a probagadom! money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by scsfuliam_retired - Saturday, July 8, 2006 1:08 AM

I thought fast forward WAS to avoid the commercials.... I can now watch an hour program in 44 minutes. My time is valuable and don't want it wasted watching commercials.... Maybe if the advertisers came up with some interesting commercials, we would hit the play button and watch them. I will revolt if they take away the ff button!

Posted by G4Gamer1003 - Saturday, July 8, 2006 4:31 AM

Well, if they want people to watch commericals, they need to elimate the DVR altogether here.

Posted by MisterKalas - Saturday, July 8, 2006 8:18 AM

If they don't want us to fast-forward though the commercials, then they're just wasting out presious time watching unwanted stuff that isn't worth seeing.

Posted by Hauphat - Saturday, July 8, 2006 8:21 AM

I watch programs on the DVR everyday and I can tell you that the whole point is to avoid the adverts. Pause... eat dinner... hit play.. ff though the adverts. Record a show... hit play.. ff though the adverts. Who in their right mind records a show and then watches the ads when they watch it.

I dont think they will get rid of the ff button simply because it turn the dvr in to a crapy version of the VCR minus the tapes. More likely, there will be a insain increase in product placement in the shows we watch so that ads are completely unavoidable.

Posted by geekkyle - Saturday, July 8, 2006 9:46 AM

sure that is how i wana spend my monday night hearing all naturalmail enhansment

Posted by geekkyle - Saturday, July 8, 2006 9:47 AM

yes i know i spelled thay badly

Posted by uberottr - Saturday, July 8, 2006 12:04 PM

Yeah, I (heart) consumerism. I like my DVR almost solely because I can pause a show, step away for half an hour, and watch it sans commercials. I mean a huge part of the appeal is the fact that I can record Conan during the wee hours of the morning without having to program my VCR, but the ability to not hear about 12 ads for "natural male-enhancement" and for Wendy's new fresh sandwich. Please do not sell out.

Posted by payton1394 - Saturday, July 8, 2006 2:13 PM

I hate commercials....Ok I understand why you need them and a few here and there dont really bother me, but when you take a 2 hour movie and strech it out to 4 and a half hours because there is a commercial break every 15 minutes is absolutly insane. So if there is a movie I want to see I'll record it and and fast forward through the commercials, If they get rid of the fast forward button I will sadly go back to recording on VHS so I can fast forward. besides if I need a product I will go and look for it. then you can advertise the hell out of it but please dont force me to watch something I dont want to watch..

Posted by kh_is_teh_sux0r - Saturday, July 8, 2006 2:23 PM

This is attacking our rights as Americans. If I WANTED to watch them, then wouldn't I? If someone WANTS to watch them, they don't have to take away the fast forward button. It's optional. Sure, Girls Gone Wild commercials are nice, but not when I'm trying to find out who the traitor is on Lost. And I could handle commercials if they weren't in a bundle of the same ones. Next time a show takes a break for some ads, look and see how many are the same. You have the diet pill commercials, the 'Revolutionary' beds, the air filters, etc. It's flat-out stupid as hell. I know McDonalds has good food, you don't have to tell me that they do over and over, though. Sure, Tilex gets rid of the Shower Grime, but do I want you to take time out of my show to state the obvious? No.

Posted by Jack_McQuack - Saturday, July 8, 2006 7:12 PM

...Yes, and viewers don't want that power button on thier televisions, either. And soon we'll have Matt Frewer's computer-generated head broadcasting the news...

Posted by crazyspock - Saturday, July 8, 2006 8:09 PM

Skipping is a main reason DVR'S are so popular.
ABC is just worried that if the advertisers find out how many people skip their ads they'll
want a price cut or they will go to another medium?

Posted by zachattack321 - Saturday, July 8, 2006 11:40 PM

I've owned 2 DVR TiVos for a while and appreciate its many abilities especially its ability to forward. Besides while I fast forward I can easily distinguish which commercials strike my fancy and view those particular ones. Plus when watchinglive TV you are still forced to watch commercials like anyone else. Finally some companies such as GE (One Second Theatre) and SPRITE (think LYMON) have taken advantage of its pause, rewind and fastforward functionallities to make their commercials more appealing. The whole ordeal could simply be a plea for attention from ABC.

Posted by cdsmith - Sunday, July 9, 2006 8:31 AM

Let's look at interactive TV. G4's own Star Trek 2.0 have an interactive interface. If we want to keep up with the chat we have to watch it live.

ABC? CBS? NBC? FOX? don't go blaming technology. Try finding a reason for us to want to watch comercials again. One good way would be to put LESS commercials in any given hour.

As long as we have these 4 to 8 30 second spots in shows I will continue to use my FF button.

Posted by Spounge - Sunday, July 9, 2006 4:08 PM

I think a Mr. Mike Shaw needs to be fired.

Posted by Andymancan - Sunday, July 9, 2006 6:22 PM

I second Spounge's motion. Who's with me?

Posted by uberottr - Monday, July 10, 2006 6:03 AM

Even before we had DVR, a lot of people skipped the commercials, either by flipping through several channels, or by going into the kitchen to fix another sandwich.To whomever suggested that every add is exactly the same, it really is. They have about five diet pill commercials per break, then a home workout routine commmercial. The only good commercials nowadays are the Sierra Mist commercials, because Jim Gaffigan is hilarious. Is it just me, or do movie theatres now have more ads before the movie? I don't know I went to see Superman and there was about 7 minutes of straight ads before any of the previews.

Posted by duckbf - Monday, July 10, 2006 6:21 AM

Everyone posting basically has the right idea. I agree with everyone especially uberottr. I saw superman too and the same thing happend to me. You would think that if we have to watch all of these stupid adds then I wouldnt have to pay to see the movie. It is the same thing with tv.

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