QuoteWill AutoHop kill commercial television?
Cable providers and networks insist that, should AutoHop, a technology that allows viewers to skip through commercials with the click of a button, enter the marketplace, it would all but destroy the commercial television "ecosystem."
To be clear, AutoHop is not Tivo or a regular DVR feature where you wait to fast-forward through commercials. Rather, it's a one-click-and-they're-gone ad-skipping tool for all pre-recorded programs the day after they air. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Dish Network is currently locked in a lawsuit with broadcasters (http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/24/3041769/fox-sues-dish-network-says-auto-hop-commercial-skipping-service)— Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS — over whether it can deploy AutoHop. (For now, it appears Dish is coming out ahead, according to the Los Angeles Times). (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-dish-network-wins-first-ruling-against-broadcast-networks-in-adskipping-case-20120530,0,6514328.story?track=rss)
If Dish could deploy the service, it would be a boon for the company as it continues to compete with cable television providers, which have been fighting to woo customers even as other pay-for services emerge on the scene, including Netflix, Apple TV, and Hulu+ (which is partially owned by NBCUniversal, The Walt Disney Company and Fox parent company News Corp.).
Mobiledia's Joe Arico has a good exploration of what the ramifications could be if AutoHop is allowed into the market. He writes:
"Auto Hop will likely turn from an isolated problem to a widespread issue if the court rules in Dish's favor. Other providers are likely to copy the company, causing headaches for networks across the country as they're forced to review their strategy."
He then concludes:
"Customers may be excited about the prospect of a technology like Auto Hop allowing them to skip commercials. But what they may not realize is that skipping commercials greatly disturbs the traditional broadcast model by devaluing the very content that makes TV valuable to advertisers, and could begin to affect the type of programming they see on their favorite channels."
In short: A lot of the things you probably don't like about television programming (product placement and cheap-to-produce reality TV) are likely to be more of what you'll see as ads surface less and less during programming hours.
So, is AutoHop the death of television as we know it? Not yet. But as consumers continue to crave ways to dodge ads, they may just end up killing, at least for a time, the very thing they love to consume: Quality programming.
Fuck yea, but I think it will inpact the industry.
Quote from: 11B4V on June 04, 2012, 09:41:09 PM
Fuck yea, but I think it will inpact the industry.
Gee, ya think?
Our programming strength and power--that American Exceptionalism we cherish! Squee!--is driven by the income generated by commercials. What, you want to pay a tax like those filthy Euros instead?
I can't remember the last time I saw a commercial.
Quote from: Josephus on June 04, 2012, 09:59:31 PM
I can't remember the last time I saw a commercial.
if i haven't recorded a show i watch like two or three at a time. i know that commercials pay for the stuff i watch, but i just can't stand them :blush:
Christ, people are fucking entitled. Watch the commercials. Sometimes they promote valuable products. Sometimes they are amusing. In any event, they pay for your shit, so keep your part of the deal.
That said, I don't even have a TV up here. But the principle applies to blip videos and such, and I happily watch the dumb ads, because I know the revenue pays for the show I watch for free.
Goddamned tragedy of the commons.
Says the man with no TV. :lmfao:
Read the ads in the paper? Those pay for your news. Read your fliers? They subsidize your mail system. Ads are just annoying and repetitive. Make better ads :lol:
I don't read the paper, I have Tim and garbon.
You didn't mention the fliers :P
Quote from: Ideologue on June 05, 2012, 12:34:42 AM
I don't read the paper, I have Tim and garbon.
Suddenly it all makes sense.
Quote from: HVC on June 05, 2012, 12:38:43 AM
You didn't mention the fliers :P
I don't like people who put me in the position of either taking their fliers off my car and tossing them on the ground, thereby littering, or putting them in a proper receptable, thereby cleaning up their garbage. Ideally, they'd all be in camps. In any event, I don't see how they're analogous.
Meant mail fliers. They're analogues because both types of ads subsidize a service we enjoy (namely crappy tv shows and mail). You can't chide someone for ignoring one while you ignore the other. Well you can, but it's dirty pool :D
Quote from: katmai on June 05, 2012, 12:40:02 AM
Quote from: Ideologue on June 05, 2012, 12:34:42 AM
I don't read the paper, I have Tim and garbon.
Suddenly it all makes sense.
:lol:
Anyway, I agree with Ide on this issue.
Quote from: HVC on June 05, 2012, 12:47:13 AM
Meant mail fliers. They're analogues because both types of ads subsidize a service we enjoy (namely crappy tv shows and mail). You can't chide someone for ignoring one while you ignore the other. Well you can, but it's dirty pool :D
You assume I "enjoy" the mail. Let me assure you that I do not.
Quote from: HVC on June 05, 2012, 12:47:13 AM
Meant mail fliers. They're analogues because both types of ads subsidize a service we enjoy (namely crappy tv shows and mail). You can't chide someone for ignoring one while you ignore the other. Well you can, but it's dirty pool :D
Not really. The ads I get in the mail never change. It's BofA, Chase, American Express and Discover all the time. Rinse and repeat. <_<
Good point. When I was living at home I'd never get mail, so I don't have the habit of checking for it. I sometimes find my mail box jammed. Mail guy must not like me much
Quote from: garbon on June 05, 2012, 12:54:26 AM
Quote from: HVC on June 05, 2012, 12:47:13 AM
Meant mail fliers. They're analogues because both types of ads subsidize a service we enjoy (namely crappy tv shows and mail). You can't chide someone for ignoring one while you ignore the other. Well you can, but it's dirty pool :D
Not really. The ads I get in the mail never change. It's BofA, Chase, American Express and Discover all the time. Rinse and repeat. <_<
i get a lot of grocery fliers. And stuff from the course I'm taking. I give them my money, why can't they just leave me alone?
Quote from: HVC on June 05, 2012, 12:47:13 AM
Meant mail fliers. They're analogues because both types of ads subsidize a service we enjoy (namely crappy tv shows and mail). You can't chide someone for ignoring one while you ignore the other. Well you can, but it's dirty pool :D
I thought stamps paid for the mail. :huh: Unless you're making a claim based on economy of scale.
Personally I'd rather pay money then watch ads, which is why I have Tivo and Netflix. Ads waste my time and distract from what I'm watching, two things that I'm happy to avoid.
Quote from: frunk on June 05, 2012, 06:45:08 AM
Personally I'd rather pay money then watch ads, which is why I have Tivo and Netflix. Ads waste my time and distract from what I'm watching, two things that I'm happy to avoid.
Great, so the already-overpriced cable consortiuums can charge us even more?
And, live television such as sports events requires ads: not merely from a game/directorial/production angle, but also for us to go to the bathroom, hit the fridge, order the pizza, tell the little shits to go to bed.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on June 05, 2012, 06:49:41 AM
Great, so the already-overpriced cable consortiuums can charge us even more?
And, live television such as sports events requires ads: not merely from a game/directorial/production angle, but also for us to go to the bathroom, hit the fridge, order the pizza, tell the little shits to go to bed.
I've dropped cable, so I don't care about that. If there's a show on cable I like I'll either get it on netflix or buy the dvds. Considering the minimum package for cable was $50 more per month than just internet that nets out to ~ two season dvds of a show per month. Even then that wouldn't include the sexier cable channels. Including those is another season dvd a month. There aren't 24-36 cable shows that I watch. It just didn't make sense.
As for sports, I never start watching them live. Buffer on the Tivo, pause if I need a break or I get too close to realtime.
I don't have cable though I do use Hulu with its requisite ads.
Quote from: garbon on June 05, 2012, 08:47:50 AM
I don't have cable though I do use Hulu with its requisite ads.
Yeah, but they're not so bad.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on June 05, 2012, 09:08:28 AM
Quote from: garbon on June 05, 2012, 08:47:50 AM
I don't have cable though I do use Hulu with its requisite ads.
Yeah, but they're not so bad.
Yes...though they can be when they get stuck on a loop of showing the exact same ad at every commercial break.
I don't give a shit about their precious income from commercials. I could watch pay channels only and be perfectly happy with my TV experience.
Quote from: Ideologue on June 04, 2012, 11:52:07 PM
Christ, people are fucking entitled. Watch the commercials. Sometimes they promote valuable products. Sometimes they are amusing. In any event, they pay for your shit, so keep your part of the deal.
That said, I don't even have a TV up here. But the principle applies to blip videos and such, and I happily watch the dumb ads, because I know the revenue pays for the show I watch for free.
Goddamned tragedy of the commons.
I pay around $100/mo for cable. That entitles me to skip the fucking commericals. Also, commercials would be wasted on me, since I don't buy shit.
Quote from: The Brain on June 05, 2012, 12:39:01 PM
I don't give a shit about their precious income from commercials. I could watch pay channels only and be perfectly happy with my TV experience.
And then there is the licence fee...
Quote from: Josephus on June 05, 2012, 04:07:20 PM
I pay around $100/mo for cable.
Damn. Do you get all the whackoff channels for that price?
Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 05, 2012, 04:42:04 PM
Quote from: Josephus on June 05, 2012, 04:07:20 PM
I pay around $100/mo for cable.
Damn. Do you get all the whackoff channels for that price?
No. just a lot of premium soccer and movies channels.
The movie channel, The Movie Network, does carry pron after midnight; it's a hybrid of hard core and soft core stuff.
Years ago I did subscribe to the Playboy channel which was kinda cool, very whackoff worthy, but they kept raising the price every year so I ditched it.
Quote from: Viking on June 05, 2012, 04:09:14 PM
Quote from: The Brain on June 05, 2012, 12:39:01 PM
I don't give a shit about their precious income from commercials. I could watch pay channels only and be perfectly happy with my TV experience.
And then there is the licence fee...
Elaborate.
Quote from: The Brain on June 05, 2012, 05:05:24 PM
Quote from: Viking on June 05, 2012, 04:09:14 PM
Quote from: The Brain on June 05, 2012, 12:39:01 PM
I don't give a shit about their precious income from commercials. I could watch pay channels only and be perfectly happy with my TV experience.
And then there is the licence fee...
Elaborate.
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV-avgift_i_Sverige
Quote from: Viking on June 05, 2012, 05:25:01 PM
Quote from: The Brain on June 05, 2012, 05:05:24 PM
Quote from: Viking on June 05, 2012, 04:09:14 PM
Quote from: The Brain on June 05, 2012, 12:39:01 PM
I don't give a shit about their precious income from commercials. I could watch pay channels only and be perfectly happy with my TV experience.
And then there is the licence fee...
Elaborate.
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV-avgift_i_Sverige
:hmm: