[mythtv-users] Congress to Make Commercial SkippingIllegal<- eff

[PAUL WILLIAMSON]

>>> "Bill Chmura" <Bill at Explosivo.com> 11/16/2004 12:39:58 PM >>>
On Tuesday 16 November 2004 11:15 am, PAUL WILLIAMSON wrote:
>> I shouldn't have to sit there and watch commercials too.
>>
>> Paul
>
>Hey Paul,
>
>I personally do not remember cable tv ever being commercial 
>free.  And I remember when cable tv was introduced.  I've 
>remember when MTV played music videos.  As soon as the 
>networks and local channels were added you had commercials.  
>Your local cable TV provider covers its costs and makes its money 
>by charging you, selling some local advertisements and paying as
little 
>for its video feeds as possible.   The money has to come from 
>somewhere or it is just not a viable business.  As for satilitte radio

>- you are paying a premium for it.  Like an HBO, Cinemax or Action 
>Channel.  Free radio is available, but has commercials.

I paid a premium for cable when it first came out too.
I remember specifically some channels being totally commercial 
free on cable, and my dad still has the betamax tapes to prove 
it.  I can't remember what channels they were, but I am sure 
they have commercials now.  The money comes from me paying 
to get a large group of channels.  I look at commercials as icing on 
the cake.  For one local TV station, infomercials have completely 
taken over for almost the entire weekend programming schedule.
I'm sure that pays for some of the costs of running a station.

>I guess my point is this - I love commercial skip, and I think the 
>law is wrong.  But if you assume that the channels are all the 
>sudden not going to become philanthropists and give away 
>everything for free - the money has to come from somewhere.

I'm not saying give away for free.  The cable and satellite 
companies will still pay for the programming.  And we'll pay 
whomever to get that programming conveniently.  Otherwise, 
I'd go negotiate with all the stations myself so that I could pay 
.12/mo for Nick, .15/mo for HGTV, etc. and pick it all up over my 
12' dish in the back of my yard.

>Why is "star trek" on tv?  Because Ruppert Murdock thinks Gene 
>Roddenbery had a vision and he wants to spend all his money on 
>sharing it with the world?  Nope, because people will watch it, and 
>if people are watching it then others will pay them to put
advertisements 
>in.  That is where the money comes from.

Scary - as I have myth set up to record all Star Trek episodes.  Not
that 
I'm a trekkie, I just like Star Trek.

>Now, assuming that is correct (and I am not sure why it would not be),

>take a world where *everyone* has commercial skip and the majority of

>users take advantage of this feature:

But if everyone had commercial skip, *someone* needs to be making
money.
The world isn't going to turn into a bunch of myth geeks overnight.  I
don't 
see them being huge believers in Tivo or ReplayTV either.  So I see 
where this is going...

>Where will the money come from to produce these television shows?  I 
>envision (and without shrooms and or peyote this is the best I can do)
a 
>world with three options:
>
>* No more tv (not bloody likely)
>
>* All paychannels.  Every channel you want would be priced like an
HBO, 
>Cinemax, etc.  

This is what we have now.  It's just packaged into the "Advantage
Packs" 
or "Use Packs".  I'm sure if enough people screamed, the providers
would 
be more than happy to break out induhvidual channels and charge 
$1.00/each or something like that.

>* This law goes into effect banning ads
>
>* Embedded advertisements (and I think these are part of the future
anyway).  

Hey!  Where'd this fourth option come from???

>They would work like this:
>
<using Fiskars(tm) to snip>

>... and so on.  With product placement already spinning out of
control, its 
>only a matter of time.
>
>Its a sad, sad, money based world we live in.

Speaking of that, the embedded advertisements are already in place 
for channels like Discovery and TLC.  At least they only advertise 
their own shows.  I have these stations removed from Myth because 
I've gotten so sick of seeing the ads disrupting the video.  It's bad
enough 
stations are now overlaying their logo on a program during the entire 
airing of a show.  At least when this practice first started, it would
only 
show up during the first 10 seconds after a commercial break, and then

for 10 seconds every 10 minutes or so.

Now that would be a cool utility.  "Un-overlay" the channel logo.

Paul
























-- 
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Bill Chmura - www.fistfullofcode.com & www.explosivo.com 
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