Commercial Skipping Wins Another Round

[admin]

Today, the Ninth Circuit US Court of Appeals unanimously denied Fox Broadcasting Company's petitions to re-open the issue of preventing DISH subscribers from using the PrimeTime Anytime and AutoHop features available on the company's Hopper Whole-Home HD DVR. Back in July 2013 Fox attempted to block DISH from allowing its customers to easily record primetime shows on up to each of the four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox).

Read more about Commercial Skipping Wins Another Round

 

[DannyA]

I don't use DISH but this is still good news! Right on!

Pioneer PDP-5020FD
Yamaha RX-V3800
Samsung BD-F5700 Blu-ray Player
Sony - PS3
Definitive Technology BP7006 Mains
Definitive Technology CS-8060 HD Center
Definitive Technology Pro Monitor 1000 Surround
Power Sound Audio XS 15 Subwoofer

 

[herbu]

It will indeed be interesting to see how this evolves. We're already seeing little snippets from the show characters in the middle of the commercial breaks. And some shows, like Hawaii Five-0, put their Chevrolet commercials right after the show segment and use the show setting such that the ad is not skipped.

I wonder how the ad skip feature works technically. Is there some digital signal that indicates the end/beginning of the show segment? Is the show format different than the ad format? What does the equipment/algorithm see that tells it when to skip and when to resume?

 

[mtrycrafts]

It will indeed be interesting to see how this evolves. We're already seeing little snippets from the show characters in the middle of the commercial breaks. And some shows, like Hawaii Five-0, put their Chevrolet commercials right after the show segment and use the show setting such that the ad is not skipped.

I wonder how the ad skip feature works technically. Is there some digital signal that indicates the end/beginning of the show segment? Is the show format different than the ad format? What does the equipment/algorithm see that tells it when to skip and when to resume?

Interesting how those adds are placed. I wonder how the adds are after that first add, are they also part of that show or will they be skipped?
Perhaps a Dish recorder has a fast forward button or a 30 second skip button.

 

[Pyrrho]

This will mean more product placement imbedded in the shows. Imagine the star of the show, opening a Coke, and talking about how refreshing it is, as part of the show. If the sponsor pays enough, it might be a part of every episode, where the character always enjoys a Coke. He might even wear a Coke T-Shirt through the entire episode, constantly guzzling Cokes, always with a smile and always talking about how refreshing it is!

 

[shadyJ]

I don't mean to turn this vaguely political, but why is FOX always on the vanguard of evil? There is this and there was the Wilson and Acre case back in 2003. Why is everyone so complacent about an organization that constantly tries to chip away at their well-being? I would say this case alone warrants a boycott of FOX media, to say nothing of Wilson and Acre.

 

[herbu]

why is FOX always on the vanguard of evil?

Ahhh... Now I understand why the "forum troll idiot that just begs for attention" label.

 

[Adam]

This will mean more product placement imbedded in the shows. Imagine the star of the show, opening a Coke, and talking about how refreshing it is, as part of the show. If the sponsor pays enough, it might be a part of every episode, where the character always enjoys a Coke. He might even wear a Coke T-Shirt through the entire episode, constantly guzzling Cokes, always with a smile and always talking about how refreshing it is!

Some shows already have some pretty blatant advertizing for cars in them, either outright talking about how nice their new [INSERT MAKE AND MODEL] is and discussing the features, or having the camera show them do certain functions that highlight the new features of the car.

I'm waiting for actors to get tattooed with logos like NASCAR vehicles.

 

[hk2000]

I really dislike what DISH is doing. Broadcasters are now going to try to devise ways to defeat the auto skip feature, which is rally not that hard- Either they remove the blank frames at the end of the segment and make the commercial seem like it's another seen in the show, or go for more drastic measure that will make it impossible to watch the show without being annoyed by the obnoxious commercials, and that is what worries me. As it stands now, I have no problem with commercials, I can always use my media center 30 sec skip, a couple of clicks and you're back to the show. So while this may be a plus to the average consumer, for people with some technical know-how and users of HT-PCs, it is a definite negative.

 

[Pyrrho]

Some shows already have some pretty blatant advertizing for cars in them, either outright talking about how nice their new [INSERT MAKE AND MODEL] is and discussing the features, or having the camera show them do certain functions that highlight the new features of the car.

I'm waiting for actors to get tattooed with logos like NASCAR vehicles.

They have done car advertising for years (ever notice those close-in shots showing the name in the grill, and then zooming out to the action?). But what this will mean is MORE of this sort of thing. Of course, it has been going on, because it makes a lot of sense to do it, if you are the advertiser, and if you are making the show, someone needs to come up with the money to do it.

But we should expect MORE of this as more and more people are skipping the commercials. After all, what is the point in paying for a commercial if no one is going to see it? Having separate commercials cannot be a viable way of financing the making and broadcasting of the shows if no one is willing to pay for a commercial time slot, which no one will be willing to do, if everyone skips them. So either it will be MORE imbedded product placement advertising, or they will have to stop making and broadcasting the shows.

 

[ratso]

it's commercials that pay for tv and if there is less of them (or even the excuse that there is less of them) I can see people like the cable companies charging more then they do now.

 

[wiyosaya]

Ahhh... Now I understand why the "forum troll idiot that just begs for attention" label.

Personally, I'd say that pointing out that a "News Service" fought a court case to lie and won that case is informational rather than trolling.

 

[wiyosaya]

There is evidence that the commercial model may not work, yet media outlets like Fox continue to try to find ways to shove it down the consumer's throat. As I see it, what this will mean is more and more snipes appearing in shows. These are virtually impossible to filter out.

 

[theJman]

it's commercials that pay for tv and if there is less of them (or even the excuse that there is less of them) I can see people like the cable companies charging more then they do now.

When broadcasts were done over the air I could understand commercials, but now that I'm charged an obscene amount of money for cable I feel their time has come and gone. I'm paying for delivery and content, which strikes me as completely inappropriate. Somebody is making an awful lot of money off of this. Comcast has now disabled the FF button when you DVR something, which means I'm forced to watch commercials all the time. Personally, I consider that totally unacceptable.

 

[shadyJ]

Personally, I'd say that pointing out that a "News Service" fought a court case to lie and won that case is informational rather than trolling.

Seriously. This guy is cheering for the fact that he can be fed lies from a news network with legal impunity, and he is cheering for their efforts to force feed him commercials.

 

[Pyrrho]

When broadcasts were done over the air I could understand commercials, but now that I'm charged an obscene amount of money for cable I feel their time has come and gone. I'm paying for delivery and content, which strikes me as completely inappropriate. Somebody is making an awful lot of money off of this. Comcast has now disabled the FF button when you DVR something, which means I'm forced to watch commercials all the time. Personally, I consider that totally unacceptable.

If you don't like it, discontinue the service. They don't give a rat's *** about your opinion as long as you pay. They are in business, and as long as you pay, that is ALL that matters to them. Your opinion counts as nothing at all.

And if you are continuing to pay, it obviously isn't "totally unacceptable" to you. Put your money where your mouth is, if you want to have any impact at all. Otherwise, your complaints are nothing at all.

 

[shadyJ]

You can can always do what I do: not watch commercial television. If there is a show you want to watch, by the discs or watch it on Netflix. I haven't watched a TV show in years that wasn't in a hotel room. Any TV show that relies on advertisers is probably artistically compromised anyway. The last time I tried to watch TV I could not believe how obnoxious all the commercials were. I am not trying to be snooty with that 'I'm too good to watch TV' attitude, because there are shows I like, I just wouldn't dare watch them with commercial breaks. If the show you want to watch is worth your time, then it is worth your time to just buy or stream from a pay service. If it isn't something that you wouldn't pay to watch commercial free, than it just isn't worth watching period. Have some god@mned selectivity about what you feed your brain!

 

[theJman]

If you don't like it, discontinue the service. They don't give a rat's *** about your opinion as long as you pay. They are in business, and as long as you pay, that is ALL that matters to them. Your opinion counts as nothing at all.

And if you are continuing to pay, it obviously isn't "totally unacceptable" to you. Put your money where your mouth is, if you want to have any impact at all. Otherwise, your complaints are nothing at all.

Yea right, and choose what? DISH? As though that's any better. There are no other options in my area, Mr. KnowItAll.

 

[Pyrrho]

Yea right, and choose what? DISH? As though that's any better. There are no other options in my area, Mr. KnowItAll.

If you are going to pay them no matter what, your complaints are pointless. They do not care AT ALL if you are unhappy. ALL they care about is getting your money.

You have a choice. You don't have to have cable at all. But if you choose it, then you are to blame for your choice. NO ONE is forcing you to have cable. You do not have to get satellite either. Whatever you choose, YOU are responsible for YOUR choice.

You can bi†ch and moan about it to me, but that will accomplish nothing. You still pay to be irritated, and they do not care that you are irritated. Your money is just as good to them no matter how you feel about it. Paying to get screwed is, in my opinion, a bad idea. But you can choose that if you wish.

I expect that you will pointlessly lash out at me again. But I am not screwing you out of your money and irritating you while doing so. You should blame those who do, not those who point out the facts to you.

 

[afterlife2]

Yea right, and choose what? DISH? As though that's any better. There are no other options in my area, Mr. KnowItAll.

Hey Jman You can always cancel the DVR and get a Homeworx, which also has QAM firmware on request: Amazon.com: HomeWorx HW-150PVR ATSC Digital TV Converter Box w/ Media Player & Recording PVR Function / HDMI Out: Electronics