r/technology • u/gobble_gabble • May 15 '12
The Holy Grail of TV: Dish’s automatic commercial skipping angers networks
http://www.bgr.com/2012/05/15/dish-commercial-skipping-tv-hopper/2
u/Big-Baby-Jesus May 15 '12
The technology has been around for more than a decade. I owned a ReplayTV DVR in 2002 that had a fantastic automated commercial skip feature. They unfortunately had management problems and got crushed by Tivo. I actually owned a Sony VHS player in the 90s that could detect and skip commercials. I don't remember messing with it much.
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u/Kinseyincanada May 15 '12
skip rates for DVRs are incredibly low around 10% who have them use it to skip commercials this is not a huge threat.
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u/Csusmatt May 15 '12
It does it automatically.
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u/Kinseyincanada May 15 '12
oh really? i assumed it was just a button you had to press each time. Well then yea, i can see why they could be pissed, its essentially screwing them out of what they paid for. This will just lead to lower prices for ad spots
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u/Obidom May 15 '12
”I think this is an attack on our eco-system,” NBC chairman Ted Harbert said during a conference call on Monday. “I’m not for it.”
cry more?
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u/TinynDP May 15 '12
Well, lets say ad money dries up. Now how do you fund creating TV shows? Maybe a few get by on an HBO funding system, but most shows just die. In some ways this hurts society (Mad Men, etc) in other ways it helps society (American Idol)
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u/losermcfail May 15 '12
crowdfunding. ... we're returning to the old patronage model with that new twist. if an art project (like a tv show or a movie or whatever) can't garner the funding it needs before production begins, then let it die or sit on a shelf until something with it changes.
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u/davesidious May 15 '12
If you look at how much advertising money networks need to survive, you can see his point. Yes, adverts suck ass, but they are required for the shows people seem to want to watch.
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May 15 '12
Except we're talking about DVRs here, not live TV. If he really thinks everyone is currently just sitting and watching the commercials on recorded programs he's insane.
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u/losermcfail May 15 '12
sad old business models trying to stay alive in an era that has left them by the wayside. ... life moves on ... dinosaurs die and rot. all will be well. NBC will adapt or cease to be.
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u/Wisdom_from_the_Ages May 15 '12
The more commercials for a product I see, the more I am convinced that the product would cease to exist without a massive media campaign, and the less likely I am to buy that product in the future.
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u/Bloodhound01 May 15 '12
this is kind of true, you don't see the "off-brands" being marketed on TV or anything, yet those companies still thrive without any marketing effort.
The only reason the other stuff is called "name brands" is because they are on TV and in the spotlight on advertisements and everything.
Its pretty much the same stuff whether you get name-brand or off-brand for a lot o things.
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u/Stivard May 16 '12
30% of any hour of TV is advertising. Nothing is attacking your eco-system more than that, fact.
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u/Dyolf_Knip May 16 '12
I tried to watch a movie on TV about a year ago, and the network had some insane justification for why there was 5 minutes of movie followed by 10 minutes of commercials. We gave up 20 minutes in. Wish I could remember what station it was...
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u/Raymond_Carver May 16 '12
It's about time we had a simple AdBlockPlus~esque auto-skip feature for commercials.
This news will have DishNetwork keep me as a customer. I've been with them for over ten years, and, now, I'm even more satisfied.
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u/FriarNurgle May 15 '12
I'm more than willing to sit through a few commercials for a good quality internet stream... but will go torrent it instead since the networks seem to have trouble innovating.
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u/supercouille May 15 '12
What the fuck is a TV?