Question about television ads...

[nocturnix]

Okay, I dont know much about cable or satellite technology at all but I think my questions are pretty simple...

Is there any type of signal, or transition sent through the cable lines/satellite when the show you are watching stops for an advertisement break?

In other words, would there be a way for software to "sense" that ads have come on, and as soon as they are done, when the program is back on, for it to recognize this?

My question is regarding regular cable, and also satellite. I want to be able to filter out ads WITHOUT missing a beat! Is this possible? Or is there NO way for software to "sense" the difference between say, a football game and a car commercial?

Thanks!

[Jordan420]

My replaytv 5060 has commercial advance and has been doing this for 3+ years. Commercial advance was removed in the 5500 models due to presssure from broadcasters but it can still be done on the 5500 models with a little work

You can also connect it to your broadband connection and share shows between replay units in your home. You can also share shows with other replay users around the world

[kb7oeb]

My VCR has that feature works 90% of the time. It wouldn't work with Frasier though because of the long dark pause between scene

[SimpleSimon]

And of course, there's always the 30 second skip feature on a DVR.

Newer Tivos have to have it enabled - because of the broadcasters, I'm sure.

the 30 second commercial is dying, and the advertisers need to understand that.

[ntexasdude]

Many moons ago I worked for a small FM radio station. We were partial live DJ's and partial satellite feed. The DJ's were live from 6 am to 8 pm and then we rebroadcast a sat feed from Denver from 8 pm to 6 am. We ran local commercials during the sat portion. The sat embedded a short 20 Hz audio signal at the beginning and end of every commercial break. We had a special continuous loop tape recorder that sensed the 20 Hz signal and would play prerecorded station ID's and commercials and then stop when it sensed the second 20 Hz signal. The tape machine was automatically cued up for the next break. So I'd say yes, the OTA broadcasters do send an electronic signal specifying the beginning and end of commercial breaks. What use is that to an average homeowner? I dunno.

AFIK, radio and TV stations still use this system or something similar. I think this is what he was asking. :)

[SimpleSimon]

Well, yes, to return to the original question, there almost certainly IS a cue signal - on the raw feeds.

No doubt in my mind that said signal does NOT make it to us. :(