[mythtv-users] Is skipping ads really a good idea?

David Brodbeck gull at gull.us
Tue Jun 19 17:32:39 UTC 2007


On Jun 18, 2007, at 9:30 PM, Peter Schachte wrote:

> Wes Hardaker wrote:
>
>> Really there is no way around product placement.  We've been heading
>> there for a while.  Fast forward in VCR's was step one.  FF on  
>> DVRs was
>> step 2.  And auto-commercial skip (which I love) is going to be the
>> final nail.  It only leaves 4 solutions:
>>
>> 1) make skipping commercials illegal and technically
>>    challenging/impossible for closed system devices through DRM.
>> 2) increase in-show commercials (no OTA and we go to all subscription
>>    cable/etc likely through encrypted systems).
>> 3) user-pays-all-fees for no commercial channels
>> 4) all TV content goes away and we're down to pay-per-use kind of
>>    architecture only.
>
> I expect broadcasters will try #1 and #2.  If neither works and the  
> advertisers
> abandon TV in droves, I guess we'll get #4.

You have to figure that, as the Internet becomes faster and more  
ubiquitous, programming being on-demand and streamed over the network  
will be more and more common.  You won't tune in to a channel; you'll  
go to the network's website and watch whatever you want there, or do  
something similar through a set-top box.  Some of these will be on a  
subscription model, some will be ad-supported, and some will have a  
tiered system where you can pay to avoid the ads.  When you're doing  
streaming video you have a lot more control over whether the user  
skips ads or not.

The cost in infrastructure and resource consumption to constantly  
blast out a 960 kilowatt signal just in case someone wants to watch  
something contained on it at that exact moment is eventually going to  
start to look pretty silly.



More information about the mythtv-users mailing list