the fact that every channel spends the better part of the show your watching advertising upcoming shows on the lower half of the screen? it drives me absolutely insane!
No, you're not alone. I've hated that since they started doing it. Of course I hate commercials too. It sucks to watch a movie when they stop it constantly and spend several minutes trying to sell you a bunch of crap. Stuff that you wouldn't buy even if they hadn't pissed you off by interrupting the movie. They even try to sell you crap you can't legally buy, like prescription drugs. By the time they get back to the movie, you've forgotten what it was about. It's very lame. That's why I quit watching commercial TV years ago. We still watch Jeopardy when we can, and the Discovery channel occasionally, but that's it. The rest is all pay channels.
the fact that every channel spends the better part of the show your watching advertising upcoming shows on the lower half of the screen? it drives me absolutely insane!
Count me in the ad-haters also. And here's another one: Comcast recently put banner ads at the bottom of the channel guide and you have to scroll through them on every screen. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!
YES! And the WORST are the ones where they actually PLAY SOUND on top of the program you're watching (usually just special effects, but COME ON!). It's not bad enough I have the lower 1/4 of my screen invaded by an advertisement for WHAT I'M ALREADY FREAKING WATCHING, but now I have to hear a bunch of swooshes and explosions that aren't part of what I'm watching, too?!
Do the networks really think our attention spans are so short they can just put programming inside other programming now? It reminds me Dex Shepard's character watching TV in Idiocracy -- anyone else remember that? Soon we'll need huge screens just to house all the advertising, much less have an area to actually watch.
Do the networks really think our attention spans are so short they can just put programming inside other programming now?
well if my wife is any indication then yes, she drives me crazy with her channel surfing during commercials! i dont watch much either, mostly the history channel if i do. many americans seem to have the attention span of an adhd gerbil
in a related idea have you guys checked out Hulu? current shows and older movies with VERY limited commercial....one of my fav new sites!
I don't know if this is irony or what, but I checked out that site and the first show I clicked to watch is a Simpsons episode where they get a Tivo and fall in love with the ability to skip commercials!
I also find them very annoying but what I hate even more is when you shell out $10+ dollars for a fricken movie ticket then have to sit through 30 minutes (no kidding, I timed the last one) of M&M, Ford, Toyota, Pepsi and the like commercials before you even see the dang movie. I understand and like the movie trailers but dang it I just paid my good money to see a movie, if I wanted to watch f'in commercials I would have stayed home!
While I'm at it, I hate that it is almost impossible to find clothing without someones fricken logo pasted all over it, if I'm doing your adverstising for you (which is technically what I'm doing with your name or logo on my shirt) than why is the dang thing so expensive...I should be getting paid to adverstise for you not the other way around. I hate looking like a damn billboard walking down the street with some companies names on my cloths.
Oh and last gripe (sorry you all got me going), I hate when you have your Closed captioning on, which I do often when I'm on the phone, and if you have it on the preview guide it shows up OVER the guide itself, not the stupid little show above the guide. NO that would interfer with them but sure cover up the entire reason I'm on that station in the first place!
Ok sorry, I am done...and IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!!! lets all go to the movies ;)
I also find them very annoying but what I hate even more is when you shell out $10+ dollars for a fricken movie ticket then have to sit through 30 minutes (no kidding, I timed the last one) of M&M, Ford, Toyota, Pepsi and the like commercials before you even see the dang movie. I understand and like the movie trailers but dang it I just paid my good money to see a movie, if I wanted to watch f'in commercials I would have stayed home!
yeah they started that years ago and i have hated it immediately....."Oh ummmm yeah, i pay to go to a movie for the exact reason that i dont want to see commercials!!!"
the fact that every channel spends the better part of the show your watching advertising upcoming shows on the lower half of the screen? it drives me absolutely insane!
But how else do you know what else to watch and to buy?
In the UK we have the BBC, with no advertising at all. It is so frustrating - I find myself having to channel surf to find the commercials in order to find out what the latest products are to unblock my sink and how to get cheap car insurance.
Don't be sorry...... if more people were AWARE and bright enough to avoid/complain/boycott etc, we wouldn't HAVE all those problems, because advertising like that wouldn't work.
Without having to spend such huge amounts of money on advertising, the product could be way cheaper and I'd be much more likely to buy it.
In the UK we have the BBC, with no advertising at all.
Interesting -- most of the BBC shows I see (a lot of them) seem to come with commercial breaks built-in, even though the PBS station on which I watch them only has betweeen-show promos ... (that's a partial list ...)
In college I absolutely never watched TV. Those were the best years of my life (no need to watch, just learn and party). Now I just sit here looking at forums and stuff ;)
Originally posted by Beetle:
I watch basically no TV anymore because of the ads. I just rent movies.
I'm clueless, but much happier :-)
ETA: If an ad still manages to "catch" and annoy me, I will boycott that product (within reason).
The amount of money spent on advertising is directly proportionate to the amount that I DON'T need it. :)
Edit: to clarify, not much money is spent on broccoli or garlic ... but they certainly are good for you. :P
Originally posted by Beetle:
Originally posted by sabphoto:
Ok sorry, I am done...
Don't be sorry...... if more people were AWARE and bright enough to avoid/complain/boycott etc, we wouldn't HAVE all those problems, because advertising like that wouldn't work.
Without having to spend such huge amounts of money on advertising, the product could be way cheaper and I'd be much more likely to buy it.
In the UK we have the BBC, with no advertising at all.
Interesting -- most of the BBC shows I see (a lot of them) seem to come with commercial breaks built-in, even though the PBS station on which I watch them only has betweeen-show promos ... (that's a partial list ...)
I think that the BBC recuts a version of its programs that are sold abroad deliberately to provide a version that can take the necessary advertising.
We get US shows that have the commercial breaks and advertising taken out when played on the BBC. It is very identifiable where there was a commercial break because you see the same scene twice from a slightly different cut! Heroes was very noticeable for that. 1 hr US shows become 45 minute shows ("24" never kept time). Programs like the US version of the Apprentice (c.45 mins) seem far more lightweight than the UK versions (c.58 mins) - amazing how much extra depth you get with an extra 10-15 mins of content over the hour.
