TV rant.. "New Trend"

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dr wogz

dr wogz

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In the light of silly topics..

Here's one that I've been contemplating (or giving too much negative energy towards..)

TV, we all love it, and watch it constantly..

But what is really buggin me recently is this 'need' to ad that pop-up at the botom of the screen after the commercial breaks. It takes up almost a 1/4 of the lower portion of the screen. In some cases , blocking out the names, & dates & translations & such..

It's typically for a new & up commign show, but I've seen it used for the show coming up next, follwed be the show after that, then off to the new show on .. Tuesday..

Some statins are worse than others, but they all (most) seem to be doing it now..

And after every $%^ pause / intermission / commercial break!!

Sorry, ranting I know, but do we need this bombardment?

I guess it could be worse.. a continuous ticker tape parade of ads & such...
 
This is something that mildly annoys me too. And sometimes it isn't even after the commercial, but during the middle of the show. I'm a fan of Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International...often during GHI they will have a pop up advertising GH. Excuse me, but if you're watching GHI its very likely that you are already aware of (and a fan already of) GH...no need to advertise it with a pop up. And yes, often the pop up has interfered with elements of the screen I wanted to observe.

I also take issue with oversize (and opaque) station and network logos. If I'm in doubt about which channel I'm watching, I can just press the info or guide button. No need to remind me of it throughout the entire program. (And there have been times when the logo interferes with any captions that are within the program).

Craig
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statin

Dr Wogz said:
In the light of silly topics..

Here's one that I've been contemplating (or giving too much negative energy towards..)

TV, we all love it, and watch it constantly..

But what is really buggin me recently is this 'need' to ad that pop-up at the botom of the screen after the commercial breaks. It takes up almost a 1/4 of the lower portion of the screen. In some cases , blocking out the names, & dates & translations & such..

It's typically for a new & up commign show, but I've seen it used for the show coming up next, follwed be the show after that, then off to the new show on .. Tuesday..

Some statins are worse than others, but they all (most) seem to be doing it now..

And after every $%^ pause / intermission / commercial break!!

Sorry, ranting I know, but do we need this bombardment?

I guess it could be worse.. a continuous ticker tape parade of ads & such...
Click to expand...
 
Personally, I find almost as annoying, those little "watermarks" that some networks put in the lower right hand corner of the screen to identify themselves during the entire show. It almost always ends up superimposed over a subtitle or person's name and title in a program where you might actually WANT to read that subtitle!
 
Even with my hearing aids (and especially before i got my new one last week) it is often easier to watch television with the closed captioning turned on. These idiotic things splashing on the bottom of the screen often interfere with the closed captioning as well which makes it difficult to understand what is going on with the show that I'm trying to watch on the network that has decided to annoy me. Do they *want* me to change the channel?
 
The best I ever saw was while watching the simpsons...

The promo pop-up came up for some upcoming new show (I had seen that particular pop up before) and before it could even begin Homer said "mmmm Promo!" and he grabbed the guy and ate him. LOL

What a hoot.

Yea. It's a new way to cram more advertising time into a half hour. They make money on it so they aren't going to stop unless they get an overwhelming write in from consumers.

I have the same beef with watching commercials in movie theaters. I paid to watch a movie. I don't like having to pay to watch a commercial. Show me previews of other movies, but come on man...
 
I listen to a nationally syndicated radio show in the morning on the station that the broadcast actually happens in. They'll have a mind-bogglingly long series of commercials and about 1 minute after they come back, they broadcast a horrible noise in mid-sentence and cut to another commercial.

When all that is over, one of the hosts will read yet another add! I regularly drive all the way to work without ever hearing any of the show.
 
Indiana said:
I listen to a nationally syndicated radio show in the morning on the station that the broadcast actually happens in. They'll have a mind-bogglingly long series of commercials and about 1 minute after they come back, they broadcast a horrible noise in mid-sentence and cut to another commercial.

When all that is over, one of the hosts will read yet another add! I regularly drive all the way to work without ever hearing any of the show.
Click to expand...

Sirius Satellite Radio: 100% commercial free music. Talk and comedy with DRASTICALLY fewer commercials than on old-fashioned terrestrial radio. Terrestrial radio is totally farcical.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP8TwjRMdS0
 
shreadvector said:
Sirius Satellite Radio: 100% commercial free music. Talk and comedy with DRASTICALLY fewer commercials than on old-fashioned terrestrial radio. Terrestrial radio is totally farcical.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP8TwjRMdS0
Click to expand...

Or National Public Radio - Unless it's pledge drive also 100% commercial free (even then it's not really a commercial).

Or you could use an iPod or other MP3 player and download podcasts of your favorite shows. (Y'know - I noticed there isn't a podcast about rocketry! Wonder why?)
 
gpoehlein said:
Personally, I find almost as annoying, those little "watermarks" that some networks put in the lower right hand corner of the screen to identify themselves during the entire show. It almost always ends up superimposed over a subtitle or person's name and title in a program where you might actually WANT to read that subtitle!
Click to expand...

Yeah, but its our own fault. If we didn't feel the need to use youtube to view commercial videos etc... and make copies and distribute programs illegally, they wouldn't have to do that. How many of us have searched youtube for old broadcasts of various shuttle / rocket launches, etc...

The digital watermarks are there to identify the channel who owns the rights for the program and also to track where the program may be distributed elsewhere, albeit usually illegally.

Yeah, its annoying, but what else can you do.
 
Slightly off topic , what REALLY gets me is going to the movies and having to watch COMMERCIALS!!!!!!!!!!! I bought a ticket.
Drives me NUTZ!!!!!
My 2 cents
 
gpoehlein said:
Or National Public Radio - Unless it's pledge drive also 100% commercial free (even then it's not really a commercial).
Click to expand...

There is also Pacifica radio, if you are lucky enough to live in one of their 5 signal areas. Commercial (and corporate underwriting) free, and a bit more "outside the box" than NPR.

https://www.pacifica.org

Or you could use an iPod or other MP3 player and download podcasts of your favorite shows. (Y'know - I noticed there isn't a podcast about rocketry! Wonder why?)
Click to expand...

There is a really cool podcast about the Apollo program, though:

https://www.apollotalks.com
 
I watch shows and movies on hulu.com

The commercials are short 10 to 30 seconds, one one commercial per break, and only four comms during the show. However, it looks like they used a backhoe to edit them in...
 
snuggles said:
Slightly off topic , what REALLY gets me is going to the movies and having to watch COMMERCIALS!!!!!!!!!!! I bought a ticket.
Drives me NUTZ!!!!!
My 2 cents
Click to expand...

Yeah, thats why i don't go anymore.

But they get around this by showing the previews before the scheduled ticket time. Or at least, legally, that is what they are *supposed* to do.
 
gpoehlein said:
Or National Public Radio - Unless it's pledge drive also 100% commercial free (even then it's not really a commercial).

The problem I have with NPR is it is a very liberal (politically) broadcast not even close to objective. That and I don't like that I have to support it (tax dollars) whether i want to or not. At least we don't pay for the content that is on regular radio or TV - Cable and satellite not withstanding- those are not required unless you choose to live in the boonies. If you don't like the commercials turn the radio off for 1-3 minutes and skip them. that and you will probably pay better attention to the road when listening to the radio. Satellite radio does have commercials also just not on certain channels if you listen to talk radio you will get comercials the music channels even have some commercials telling me whats coming on some other satellite channel like I would ever listen to folk if I am listening to the hard rock or country channel or vise versa.
Click to expand...
 
I remember when cable TV came out years ago- there were no commercials. The idea was that you were paying for the privelage of not having commercials as compared to broadcast TV that was free and needed the revenue.

Kind of like most PBS style stations that do fundraisers. They will inevitably say, "if you like this program then contribute to our station...". What they don't tell you is that almost every PBS type station now receives the majority of their funding from the taxpayers anyway and you already are supporting the station- like it or not.
 
My remedy to the television was to simply remove it altogether. It feels supremely self empowering. Over twelve years 'sober' with no DT's.
 
Peartree said:
Even with my hearing aids (and especially before i got my new one last week) it is often easier to watch television with the closed captioning turned on. These idiotic things splashing on the bottom of the screen often interfere with the closed captioning as well which makes it difficult to understand what is going on with the show that I'm trying to watch on the network that has decided to annoy me. Do they *want* me to change the channel?
Click to expand...



Start a class action suit under the ADA and help us all. :grin:
 
Every year, having some of the effects of autism be that I can't watch TV and movies is looking more and more like a benefit.

(but, honestly, I would like to watch Star Trek)
 
I have noticed it, but....
I don't watch channels with commercials.
With the exception of The Weather Channel in the mornings. And all day Fridays on the History channel for Ancient Aliens.
By the way, I I've timed it somewhat. 5 minutes of Weather, 4 minutes of commercials (min., sometimes more) and 1 minute of local weather every 10 minutes.
On average, that is 24 minutes of commercials every hours, which usually revolves around 12-15 commercials.
Most commercials are 20 seconds. The repetitiveness is mind boggling.
 
A few random remarks from someone who writes software that schedules commercials on cable:

The things in the periphery are called secondary events. There are potentially ~8 places on the screen to show them (Depending on how you carve up the screen). Contrary to the thread title, they are not new. In fact, networks (particularly news stations) used them a lot more shortly after the millennium. They proved more annoying than they were worth – especially since nobody figured out how to sell them to sponsors. That’s why they are used mostly for promos. By putting promos there, you can take the promos out of the breaks and sell more ads.

The observation that promos are redundant is dead on. We did a study on the use of promos, and found (unsurprisingly) that unknown shows need more of them – but networks continue to promote well-known shows. Nobody knows why, but the issue is discussed.

FWIW, The little logo in the corner is called a bug.

If it makes you feel any better, not everyone in the industry likes secondary events. In particular, Ted Turner hated them.

-LarryC
 
hilltopper said:
gpoehlein said:
Or National Public Radio - Unless it's pledge drive also 100% commercial free (even then it's not really a commercial).

The problem I have with NPR is it is a very liberal (politically) broadcast not even close to objective. That and I don't like that I have to support it (tax dollars) whether i want to or not. ...
Click to expand...

I gotta challenge you on that statement. Most of the revenue from public radio stations is from underwriters (ad sales) and individual contributions. For one of our local stations (KUOW), that breaks down like this, rounded to thousands.

Individual contributions: $9545K
Underwriting: $4080K
CPB (aka tax dollars): $734K
University of Washington: $124K
Other: $26K
Total: $15509K

I believe that the support from UW carries some advertising slots with it, so I'm not 100% sure how that breaks down between taxpayer funding and underwriting. Even if you assume it's all taxpayer money, that's a total of $858K, or 5.6% of the total revenue. That's not a very big piece of the pie. There are a lot of other places I'd rather go to for saving money in the government, but that'll just get this thread locked in a heartbeat. :)

I also don't really agree that the underwriting announcements aren't ads. Sure, they're all read by the same person, but they're ads for products, services, and events. I'm sure there are legal differences, but it quacks like a duck...
Click to expand...
 

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