Posted on 04/20/2006 6:26:51 AM PDT by Xenophobic Alien
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- In this era of easy ad skipping with TiVo-like video recorders, could television viewers one day be forced to watch commercials with a system that prevents channel switching?
Yes, according to Royal Philips Electronics. A patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said researchers of the Netherland-based consumer electronics company have created a technology that could let broadcasters freeze a channel during a commercial, so viewers wouldn't be able to avoid it.
The pending patent, published on March 30, said the feature would be implemented on a program-by-program basis. Devices that could carry the technology would be a television or a set-top-box.
Philips acknowledged, however, that the anti-channel changing technology might not sit well with consumers and suggested in its patent filing that consumers be allowed to avoid the feature if they paid broadcasters a fee.
On Wednesday, company officials issued a statement that noted the technology also enables the opposite: allowing viewers to watch television without advertising. The intention was never to force viewers to watch ads against their will, the company said of the technology.
"We developed a system where the viewer can choose, at the beginning of a movie, to either watch the movie without ads, or watch the movie with ads," the company stated. "It is up to the viewer to take this decision, and up to the broadcaster to offer the various services."
The company also said it had no plans to use the technology in any of its products.
Philips wanted to provide the technology and seek the patent only as part of the broader developments within the industry, Philips spokesman Andre Manning said.
"freeze a channel during a commercial, so viewers wouldn't be able to avoid it."
Husbands and wives will divide on this issue. Husbands love to use our remotes to switch channels during commercials. The switch drives most wives batty and they yell at us to change back so they won't miss the resumption of their show. It's similar to the up/down toilet seat issue.
Which is why many of them are now transparent instead of in full color.
The day this happens, I'm making like Elvis.
KaBOOM!!! goe's my .357 Magnum.
And then I'll go back to reading books (maybe).
"Viewers are going to have to choose, do you want to watch shows for free, or not watch ads, you can't do both."
Why not? I'm already paying $54.00 a month for my Direct TV.
Why should I have to pay the broadcaster again just because I don't want to watch commercials for garbage I don't want to buy. The broadcaster has already made his money, from me for my Direct TV subcrption, and from the advertisor. If I want to channel surf during commercials it's my business, I've already paid. I'm all for capitalism, but when does it go to far, when do companies stop looking for ways to get to pay above and beyond. I've paid for my programing choices, and I should be able to control what is on MY TV!!
"Can't you see it? A bunch of old Gen-Xers walking around with "This space for rent" on their forehaeds? they will be whores for the almighty dollar."
You do realize that Gen Xers are already in their 30s and 40s now. It is far too late for them to accept branding for cash :) No one who has had the ability to tivo and skip past commercials is likely to buy a product which limits this ability (they will just buy from a manufacturer who doesn't include this stupid "feature")
I'm The Slime
by Frank Zappa
I am gross and perverted
I'm obsessed 'n deranged
I have existed for years
But very little had changed
I am the tool of the Government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you
I may be vile and pernicious
But you can't look away
I make you think I'm delicious
With the stuff that I say
I am the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I am the slime oozin' out
From your TV set
You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't go for help...no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold
That's right, folks..
Don't touch that dial
Well, I am the slime from your video
Oozin' along on your livin'room floor
I am the slime from your video
Can't stop the slime, people, lookit me go
Their answer is that you live in region 1 and therefore shouldn't be watching region 2, 3 or 4 DVDs. If Hollywood wanted you to watch those movies, they would sell them to you in Region 1.
Yeah, it's a load of crap, but that's what they think. I have a cheap Apex DVD player that I loaded with region changable firmware to watch an occasional non-Region 1 disk.
Thanks for the blast from the past! That was the "Outer Limits", wasn't it?
BTW -- just another reason to keep the old VCR! Tape the show and fast forward through the commercials! Not that there is much worth taping anymore.
Hmmm...don't think I'm going to like this. I try to NEVER watch a problem when it's actually broadcast. I love my DVR player with it's five speeds of fast forward...I even skip the news segments that bore me.
No, we pay for what we see by having the commercials transmitted to our screens, nothing says we have to watch them and let's face it, if I want to change channels, I should be able to do it at will, commercial or no commercial, and shouldn't have to pay for the "privilege" of adjusting my own TV. They seem to forget that consumers, who watch TV are the reason they exist, not the other way around.
Twenty years ago (and before), I really didn't mind commercials all that much at all. They were far less frequent and they were far less abrasive in tone. They used to comprise 8 minutes per hour, and nowadays seem to eat up 20 minutes per hour.
Along with those ever-present, on-screen "bugs," I don't see how anyone can tolerate all that. Especially on some dramatic-type tv fare. It disrupts the entire viewing experience. Anyway, it's one of the main contributing factors to why I gave up on tv (other than news), and now just watch dvd's. I'm much happier with my season-sets to "Have Gun, Will Travel," "I Spy," "Combat," "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," etc., etc.
I did say that it was a stupid idea....
I had HBO and Cinemax turned off my directv....they were showing movies from the 70's and 80's (that we've all seen 10 times) in the prime movie slots. If that's all they had to offer, why bother?
I recall a lot of the places we visited in Europe, would have the shows run straight through, followed by a solid block of commericals that would last 5 to 10 minutes.
I could live with that. Just enough time for a whiz and a trip to the fridge.
I take it it would affect Tivo and other DVRs?
I can hardly blame them, to tell you the truth, and have wondered about this myself. I can watch my beloved Browns, Tribe, and Cavs, and it costs me nothing. I can watch 24, and the very few other shows I watch at the same cost. At some point, the people putting those things on the air have to make money or they're going to stop making them. Or, we'll have to subsidize directly what we now subsidize voluntarily through purchases of advertised products.
It kind of amazes me that some people here are outraged by this. What, do you think private companies have an obligation to air programming at an economic loss?
"What, do you think private companies have an obligation to air programming at an economic loss?"
What are you talking about? The broadcasters are making boatloads of money. They get paid by every cable and sattelite provider to carry their content. Then they get paid by the advertisors to carry their commercials. Everyone in this food chain is making money. The adertisors want their products in your face 24-7, their crap is everywhere, on tv, the radio, in magazines, billboards, and your computer. Channel surfing is not cutting into anyones bottom line. It's all about control; they want it.
Come on sir, don't let that Annapolis education go to waste!
Nope, but they aren't going to force me to watch their commercials... I'll just keep doing what I am already doing....
I'll buy an entire season of 24 for a few bucks and watch it at my leasure.
Media companies aren't losing money because of TIVO trust me..
Here's how the cable game works.... Cable Distributed X wants to add ESPN to their lineup.... they call up Disney and say we want ESPN... Disney tells cable distributor..Oh, if you want ESPN you have to take ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN Estrogen and 24 hour Farting network... Cable distributor says, We don't want all those, just ESPN... Disney says, take it or leave it... Cable operator says ok.. and now has 5 channels it has to carry and pass on to its customers when it knows damned well, only 1 of them is going to be watched.
Now, advertisor says, Hey, we want to advertise on ESPN... they call up Disney, and Disney says, you want to advertise on ESPN, you also have to advertise on ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN Estrogen and 24 Hour farting network... Buyer says, we don't want to run on those stations, in fact we sell athletic supporters, and we would hit ZERO of our target market on ESPN Estrogen, and the viewship rates of all the others are a joke, we don't want em... Disney says fine... no ESPN ad... buyer capitulates.
The reality is simply put the Cable Bandwidth is oversaturated subsidizing channels no one wants or needs..
The problem isn't TIVO folks skipping commercials... after all most folks leave the room, flip or do something else during commercials and have since the remote was invented and everyone knows it. TV marketing is shotgun marketing, the effectiveness of a 15,30 or 60 second add is dubious at best for all but the largest players.. Coke, Pepsi, Car Companies etc... They aren't losing sales because somoene didn't watch their latest commercial that had nothing to witht their product anyway.
Reality is, marketing saturation has occurred, and folks just tune it out, and instead of blaming themselves for oversaturating they want to blame the very small percentage of folks with TIVOs.
Its a bunch of BS.... You want to sell something, figure out a better way to get it out there, and stop being so lazy.
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