10 replies to this topic

[gobears]

ABC HAS HELD DISCUSSIONS ON the use of technology that would disable the fast-forward button on DVRs, according to ABC President of Advertising Sales Mike Shaw, with the primary goal to allow TV commercials to run as intended.

"I would love it if the MSOs, during the deployment of the new DVRs they're putting out there, would disable the fast-forward [button]," Shaw said.

While MSOs risk losing some of their DVR customers if fast-forwarding were blocked, Shaw said the cable operators--who are beefing up their own local ad sales operations--"are in the same business we're in." "They've got to sell ads too," he said. "So if everybody's skipping everybody's ads, that's not a long-term business model for them either."

Shaw also threw cold water on the idea that neutering the fast-forward option would result in a consumer backlash. He suggested that consumers prefer DVRs for their ability to facilitate on-demand viewing and not ad-zapping--and consumers might warm to the idea that anytime viewing brings with it a tradeoff in the form of unavoidable commercial viewing.

"I'm not so sure that the whole issue really is one of commercial avoidance," Shaw said. "It really is a matter of convenience--so you don't miss your favorite show. And quite frankly, we're just training a new generation of viewers to skip commercials because they can. I'm not sure that the driving reason to get a DVR in the first place is just to skip commercials. I don't fundamentally believe that. People can understand in order to have convenience and on-demand (options), that you can't skip commercials."


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[insano]

Hey, as bad as it seems, the networks need to make money somehow. If they start to lose money then they will put even worse shows on TV than there already are.

It makes sense.

[keith crime]

nah eventually you'll just watch whatever you want to watch when you want to watch it and you'll pay per view like HBO on demand - screw commercials I'd rather pay for my programming myself

[Golden]

I'm surprised they didn't raise this issue already. Completely disabling the fast forward button is a terrible idea, though. There are actually parts of shows that I fast forward through (other than commercials).

[brvheart]

Hey, as bad as it seems, the networks need to make money somehow. If they start to lose money then they will put even worse shows on TV than there already are.

It makes sense.

Actually this make no sense for the networks to be talking about. It should be the ad companies that are discussing this. ABC already sold the ads, so what the **** do they care?

[lvpro]

Actually this make no sense for the networks to be talking about. It should be the ad companies that are discussing this. ABC already sold the ads, so what the **** do they care?

Odds are that the advertisers are showing up less/paying less because their ads aren't being watched. That's why ABC cares.

[Ouch-8s]

He suggested that consumers prefer DVRs for their ability to facilitate on-demand viewing and not ad-zapping--and consumers might warm to the idea that anytime viewing brings with it a tradeoff in the form of unavoidable commercial viewing.

I'd just like to say that I LOVE it when someone else tells me why I like to do something. By his logic, if we watch it while they broadcast it (on their schedule instead of ours), we DON'T have to watch commercials?

[digitalmonkey]

nah eventually you'll just watch whatever you want to watch when you want to watch it and you'll pay per view like HBO on demand - screw commercials I'd rather pay for my programming myself

Screw commercials? Nobody would watch the superbowl.

[SunDrop]

Obviously this is just the beginning of television programming moving to portable devices or PCs.

Because remember, the television will be around forever, just like the telegraph.

[aadams_22]

Screw commercials? Nobody would watch the superbowl.

Ever since the Janet Jackson fiasco the FCC way overreacted and have caused the commercials to be stupid the past few years. Besides I can't stand people who only tune into the Super Bowl for the commercials because they never shut up during the damn game yet will be quiet as a mouse when the commercials come on.

I think this not allowing to FF through commercials is an absolute joke...no one tunes into shows to see the damn commercials.

[CobaltBlue]

The fact of the matter is that nowadays I view commercials as the price that I have to pay for watching live television. I don't watch a lot of live television, because there are much better uses of my time than sitting through a half hour of commercials every day. That said, if there's some sort of live event (like a sports game), I'll put up with them.

There's absolutely no way the fast-forward button on DVRs will go away. If a DVR company disables it, there will be huge consumer backlash against that particular company and their sales will plummet.