Kellner: Consumers should pay to zap ads

Broadcasting and Cable.com ^ | 5/06/02 | P. J. Bednarski

[GeneD]

Jamie Kellner, chairman and CEO of Turner Broadcasting System Inc., argued that if personal video recorders like TiVo Inc.'s and SONICblue Inc.'s ReplayTV are going to allow viewers to zap commercials, consumers should pay for the privilege -- as much as $250 per year.

At a dinner with AOL Time Warner executives and the media Sunday in New Orleans -- gathered there for the National Show -- Kellner said he worries that PVRs that will eventually be installed in set-top boxes threaten to destroy commercial TV, which, he argued, is already a fragile business.

He cited a new analyst report that said the "Big Four" broadcast networks spend $18 billion per year on programming and related costs and get a paltry 2 percent return.

One solution, he suggested: Consumers can choose either to have zapless PVRs or to pay the fee to have the capability of skipping by commercials.

[ARA]

That is a mid break id for the stations. Very common in a large chunk of commericial time to keep the viewer tuned to the show or to attract a channel surfer who has just tuned in. Sometimes it is also used to denote local commercial time in local markets...

[thatsnotnice]

How does this work? Do you mute commericials for a set period? I don't see how the machine can tell what are commercials and what is the rest.

I don't know... I remember that a Japanese company supposedly had a VCR that would clip commercials - I guess they could detect some change in the signal... or something. Supposedly the technology exists to detect when a commercial is on, and stop taping, then re-start when it (they) are finished.

The only reason I remember it is because the advertisers and networks/stations in the U.S. made a big deal out of it at the time (mid-late 80's)... their lawyers fought tooth and nail to prevent the machines being sold in the U.S.

Still, I'd bet if you looked through some old Popular Electronics issues or similar, you could come up with somethig that you could hook into whatever you have... time waster, possibly...

[knews_hound]

Echoing your comments.

I just got my Dish Network PVR and I LOVE it !

TV will never be the same for me !

Cheers,

knews hound

[babygene]

Jamie Kellner suggested later that day, that those Americans that did not watch tv should also have to pay the 250.

[Kozak]

I have an idea... How about we, as cable subscribers, have an option to "opt out" of their channel, so that we don't have to pay for it if we don't want to. Then, we can charge THEM for access into our homes. That way, they could schedule 24x7 commercials!

Actually as someone who is frequently up at odd hours due to the nature of my job, I have noticed that more and more stations become "all ad's all the time", ie the dreaded infomercials. Some times there are only one or two channels with any actual programming. Since I pay for cable and satellite already, why the hell don't they pay ME for the fact I am being cheated?????

[Kozak]

Oh yeah, like I want to watch his crappy Braves anyway!

[Hodar]

Jamie Kellner does have a point. TV shows seldom make any money (Exceptions are BATMAN, Sesame Street, and others who make money by franchising products outside of the TV medium). But as a rule, the TV shows only lure watchers so they can be hit by advertising. If we can filter the advertisements from the shows, advertisers won't finance the shows we love.

[Samwise]

Shhhhh! They might hear you. Some executive wannabe just got an idea to pitch to the Big Boys.

[Blue Screen of Death]

If the ad people would make interesting and informative commercials and limit the number of times they are repeated, they might keep more viewers. However, if they follow the "bowflex" school of repeat until the viewers wear out their mute buttons, then they can expect viewer dropout.

[Voltage]

Thanks for the explanation...however its obviously not automatic, so Ill just have to do what I do now--switch channels and hopefully get back on time.

Only thing I watch with any regularity is FOX News...and a local advertiser company runs really awful stuff on the cable here. Its hard to imagine an ad repeated without change for a full year (it seems like a year) is doing anyone any good.

[steve-b]

Do you own a DVD player? If so, have you noticed the sections of the DVD where you lose control of your player...like the FBI warning?
Soon, I think there will be "movie theatre" type ads on DVDs that will be protected that way.

Wrong verb tense. There already are such ads on some DVDs (Disney is particularly notorious for this).

[tm22721]

Just make it all subscription services like HBO.

Who watches commercials anyway ??

BUMP

[tacticalogic]

That would show that Keller's idea that PVR users are stealing from the networks is wrong!

If skipping the commercials is stealing, then promising us entertainment in exchange for watching them is fraud.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Damn, that sucks.

I haven't come across one yet.

[thatsnotnice]

Thanks for the explanation...however its obviously not automatic...

That's just it - the Japanese developed a VCR that WAS automatic - you just set it to record a show and it would clip out the commercials automatically. They (industry lawyers) pressed to make it illegal to sell in the U.S. I remember reading an article that detailed the process. I'm thinking it was Popular Electronics or Popular Mechanics, I just don't remember... it was 12 - 15 years ago.

It was a neat idea, but went into great technical detail and I'm no video guru so 80% went right over my head. Someone probably has a circuit diagram and parts list for a generic "commercial clipper." I'll look around and see what I can dig up.

The only potential problem is that a lot of video related stuff requires an oscilloscope to set up properly and I no longer have one. My old Heathkit silly-scope died of neglect ten years ago (or more)... ha.

[Eala]

threaten to destroy commercial TV, which, he argued, is already a fragile business

Given that commercial TV appears to be pitched to the bottom one percentile of American IQ, I'm not surprised. What's there to watch?