[AirRocker]

Wow... This is just ridiculous... I can't even believe I have to take the time to write this...

Just a few minutes ago, my wife and I were minding our own business, eating some pizza, and enjoying an old re-run of Home Improvement on NickHD (channel 299)... when our screen was suddenly TAKEN OVER by a 10 second full video advertisement... IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PROGRAM!!

I'm not sure if this has been discussed before, but it's the first time I've seen this. I know TBS did (does?) the crap where they 'pause' the program for a few seconds and have a little animated commercial at the bottom, but IMO, this is far worse... This took over approx. 50% of the screen.

Nickelodeon is about to receive one hell of an email from me, and I urge the rest of you to do the same. If we don't let them know who we feel about this, it will become the standard.

 

[HDTVsportsfan]

Which audio was playing. I'm assuming Home Improvements audio was.

 

[AirRocker]

Which audio was playing. I'm assuming Home Improvements audio was.

Correct.. The audio for the program remained, but the entire 'ad space' was full motion video...

 

[tcusta00]

They'll keep encroaching unless they find another source of revenue, which sucks. Programming quality deteriorates and ads get more pervasive.

 

[RobertE]

Which one was the ad? :lol:

 

[LarryFlowers]

Ironically.. this is our fault...

We use DVR's to avoid watching commercials... they know it so they stick it where we can't fast forward thru it. Watch your screens.. see how many times you see a scene on a busy city street and lo and behold there is always a UPS or FedEx truck in the background... accident or intentional? I am watching the Closer right now and the cop is plainly drinking an RC Cola and it is prominently displayed. New scene and a prisoner is opening a fresh can of RC.

I hate commercials and I do anything to avoid watching them, but that exact attitude is what is driving them to these extremes. Nick isnt the only one doing it. The Bill Engvald show did an ad that was actually blended inton the TV show that was on when I saw it.

While it makes me angry, it also makes me laugh. These companies are merely "adapting" to the technology... but I wonder if we weren't better off when we could get up and hit the John, or the refridgerator or just turn the sound down and ignore it.

 

[frederic1943]

When Law & Order began airing in re-runs on TNT, new digital technology was used to insert "product placements" into the show. The easiest to spot is for Coca-Cola; any time you see a Coke can sitting on a desk, it has been added digitally.

 

[AirRocker]

Product placement is one thing... and actually doesn't even bother me... A certain scene from 30 Rock comes to mind... and I found it hilarious...

But to drastically shrink the viewing area of the show I'm trying to watch is totally unacceptable to me...

 

[GaryPotter]

Maybe networks should consider reducing the money they pay their worthless producers, then maybe we wouldn't have this problem. But still, this is just absurd. And what a thing to make a full-screen ad about...

 

[jacksonm30354]

They know we fast forward through commercials. Advertisers don't want to pay $ for ads people will not see. In addition, the more channels there are the fewer the eyes are watching a givenchannel reducing the amount advertisers are willing to pay for a spot.

The choices to avoid this are paying more for each channel directly or indirectly (direct - you pay a fee for each channel like hbo or indirectly - a fee is paid by the providor like direct which is in turn passed onto you in higher monthly fees). Or we might have to be willing to give up the ability to fast forward through ads all together.

 

[fluffybear]

They'll keep encroaching unless they find another source of revenue, which sucks. Programming quality deteriorates and ads get more pervasive.

such as advertising in Movie Theaters?

The wife and I went to see a movie, a couple of days back and we sat through at least 5 minutes of ad's prior to the previews. It's bad enough theaters soak you $5.00 for a small popcorn ($7.50 for a large) and $3.00 for a small drink ($5.00 for a large) :eek2: but having to endure 5 minutes of commercials is just wrong...

I'd be more than happy to pay a couple extra dollars each month to shrink the bugs and make them opaque and do away with advertisement such as the one OP is complaining about..

 

[Stuart Sweet]

I dislike this trend intensely, but I do understand it. A better, and bigger, question is what will Nickelodeon and TV Land do in a world populated by hulu and Netflix? I'm glad to say that more classic television is available online than ever before, and the comparatively low quality of online delivery is just fine for 40-year-old TV shows.

I see these half-screen ads as an unfortunate, desperate, and perhaps final attempt to preserve the programming ideology of these increasingly outmoded channels.

Sure, who doesn't like turning on the TV at 3am and finding a comfortable old episode of Andy Griffith on and waiting for you, but realistically these channels won't make money when you can get the same thing on demand.

 

[Capmeister]

I don't mind ads. I don't like the ones that pop up and would rather have product placement.

 

[dorfd1]

such as advertising in Movie Theaters?

The wife and I went to see a movie, a couple of days back and we sat through at least 5 minutes of ad's prior to the previews. It's bad enough theaters soak you $5.00 for a small popcorn ($7.50 for a large) and $3.00 for a small drink ($5.00 for a large) :eek2: but having to endure 5 minutes of commercials is just wrong...

I'd be more than happy to pay a couple extra dollars each month to shrink the bugs and make them opaque and do away with advertisement such as the one OP is complaining about..

there are no ads in imax films. When I say the imax version of open seeans I was there before the show started and when the projector was turned on the actual movie began. just the movie not even a messahe telling you to put on the 3d glasses. so that means not all auditoriums have advertising.

 

[Mark Holtz]

Just keep adding the ads in. Just keep ruining my television watching experience. I have DirecTV on speeddial on my phone, and I'm not under a 2-year commitment. And, I would like a good excuse to discontinue all television entirely.

 

[paulman182]

They began spinning out of control when they started time compression. It looks ridiculous at times.

We really need a channel that respects classic TV and classic TV fans. Like a "Turner Classic Television," commercial-free.

But the way things are going, I wonder if Turner Classic Movies may start a downward spiral, too.

 

[zimm7778]

such as advertising in Movie Theaters?

The wife and I went to see a movie, a couple of days back and we sat through at least 5 minutes of ad's prior to the previews. It's bad enough theaters soak you $5.00 for a small popcorn ($7.50 for a large) and $3.00 for a small drink ($5.00 for a large) :eek2: but having to endure 5 minutes of commercials is just wrong...

I'd be more than happy to pay a couple extra dollars each month to shrink the bugs and make them opaque and do away with advertisement such as the one OP is complaining about..

5 minutes? Every theatre I have been in has a 15-20 minute pre show now complete with ads, coming attractions for tv shows, movies, etc" THEN you get the 15 minuntes of "mute your cell," "shut up during the movie," and the movie previews.

 

[phrelin]

A timely piece from Advertising Age came to my attention that contains an assumption probably shared by the advertising business:

Yet industry observers are quick to tar all TV commercials with the same brush. They envision a time in the not-too-distant future when all stations will be supported solely by subscribers and other ancillary income sources.

The problem is that these industry observers are mistaking an evolution in viewer advertising attitudes for a revolution. People have always complained about commercials and sometimes muted the sound when they air. But they also have accepted ads as the price they pay for their favorite programming. There's no evidence that this is changing. Huge numbers of people still watch their favorite network programs, sporting events and talk shows in "real" time and sit through the commercials. An unwritten pact exists between viewers and advertisers: You give us good programs, and we'll accept a certain amount of advertising.

The piece is worth reading if only to get a feel of the fuzzing thinking going on in the advertising business right now.

 

[fluffybear]

5 minutes? Every theatre I have been in has a 15-20 minute pre show now complete with ads, coming attractions for tv shows, movies, etc" THEN you get the 15 minuntes of "mute your cell," "shut up during the movie," and the movie previews.

Correct, the entire pre-show was at least 15 to 20 minutes, the 5 minutes I was referring to was just for product ad's..

 

[Jaspear]

A timely piece from Advertising Age came to my attention that contains an assumption probably shared by the advertising business:

"Huge numbers of people still watch their favorite network programs, sporting events and talk shows in "real" time and sit through the commercials. An unwritten pact exists between viewers and advertisers: You give us good programs, and we'll accept a certain amount of advertising."

The piece is worth reading if only to get a feel of the fuzzing thinking going on in the advertising business right now.

I'm not sure this is "fuzzy thinking". I have many friends who do just that: watch everything in real time. Matter of fact, I can count the number of people I know with PVRs on the fingers of one hand. I don't know what the national PVR penetration is, but if the people I know are any indication, it must still be a minority of TV homes.

If so, then all this real estate stealing by TBS and TV Land is just a gambit to see how much we - PVR owners - will put up with. For everyone else, it will just look like more business as usual.

And when my friends do finally get PVRs, I suspect they will still mostly watch TV in real time. They're too lazy to do anything else!