Another reason to stop watching telly...

[Scouse]

When the ITV spokesman says "customers are becoming a lot more clever in avoiding advertising" does that mean TV companies should get more powers to force us to watch adverts, even during programmes?

I mean, when ITV was first thought of the regulators decided it was OK for them to show adverts in small segments which broke up the programs. If people wanted to get up and make a cuppa then fine...

Videos have been around ages but now they're complaining that "set-top boxes allow viewers to record programmes and then fast-forward through advertisments".

EXACTLY! Like we've been able to for 25 years!

I'm beginning to wonder where the corporate world is going to end...

[rynnor]

I think it will be hilarious - I cant really imagine it working but think how laughable their content will look - lol!

[Raven]

Well I guess its like the internet, like most people with more than one braincell I use firefox with AdBlock+ not seen a single web based advert in months. There are ways to lessen the damage adverts do to a TV show.

I sky+ anything I want to watch on TV and fast forward through the breaks. If they force other adverts on me I will simply torrent stuff or buy the DVD box sets.

Personally I would like to see the end of commercial TV and replace it with fully pay-per-view TV. It would be a perfect way to cull the shite that is cramming the airwaves because anything not worth watching will just not make any money.

[nath]

That's not entirely accurate. There's tonnes of shit on tele that's not even remotely worth watching and yet makes loads of money. Reality TV being the prime culprit.

[Yoni]

Originally Posted by nath

That's not entirely accurate. There's tonnes of shit on tele that's not even remotely worth watching and yet makes loads of money. Reality TV being the prime culprit.

Reality TV is my prime reason for never turning the television on... I download from BBC etc programmes I want to watch then do so when I want... it is totally the way forward.

[Ignition]

ITV are in a fairly bad state financially, no wonder they are looking for any way possible to raise cash.

I've no fundamental problem with subtle product placement, and if it were possible for it to totally replace invasive advertising that would rock.

If it were just a case of assaulting people with ads during, before and after breaks then, well, they wonder why people download shows from the internet...

It's a sulk to PVRs and the like I imagine. There are technical solutions in progress to try and ensure that people with PVRs cannot fast forward through adverts, but same as everything else, either the business model changes to accomodate the advance of technology or they get left behind.

[nath]

It seems pretty absurd, I mean if you're losing money why make watching your channel less appealing?

[DaGaffer]

Originally Posted by Raven

Well I guess its like the internet, like most people with more than one braincell I use firefox with AdBlock+ not seen a single web based advert in months. There are ways to lessen the damage adverts do to a TV show.

Except that's not true is it? Every time you go to Google you see a shitload of ads, and because people don't respond to/block banners etc. all the money is being concentrated with Google. And just because you may not click sponsored links, it doesn't mean they don't work (trust me, they do - I make hundreds of thousands of pounds of sales via Google every week). Bottom line is that ads will find a way (and strangely, I prefer TV ads with production values rather than Google getting all the money in the world).

Originally Posted by Raven

I sky+ anything I want to watch on TV and fast forward through the breaks. If they force other adverts on me I will simply torrent stuff or buy the DVD box sets.

This is precisely their point. When everyone does it, the effectiveness of advertising drops, ad money heads for other media, particularly the internet, fewer programmes get made (to oversimplify dramatically).

Originally Posted by Raven

Personally I would like to see the end of commercial TV and replace it with fully pay-per-view TV. It would be a perfect way to cull the shite that is cramming the airwaves because anything not worth watching will just not make any money.

It simply won't work. A simple analysis of the number of broadcast hours in a day will tell you that. PPV serves certain niches, but even PPV successes like HBO wouldn't work without free-to-air syndication of their shows after the first PPV run.

The first instinct of most people, when they hear a TV exec (or music publisher etc.) mention creative ways to keep their businesses alive, is to react as everyone here has, with ranting, but ultimately they have to make money or go under. In this kind of hostile market, the endgame is to make ads unavoidable, and ultimately we have no-one to blame but ourselves.

[nath]

How are the other networks doing financially? It strikes me that if ITV are doing poorly the most obviously culprit is the content. It's just an awful, awful channel.

[Scouse]

Originally Posted by DaGaffer

ultimately we have no-one to blame but ourselves.

I was with you for a while but you lost me with this sentence.

LOAD OF SHIT.


Grrrrr n' stuff.

[Billargh]

Yeah, you've got to be a right clever bastard to to make a cuppa/swtich channel during the adverts.

[Fweddy]

I work for ITV

[DaGaffer]

Originally Posted by Scouse

I was with you for a while but you lost me with this sentence.

LOAD OF SHIT.


Grrrrr n' stuff.

LOL. Ask yourself this question; if every...single...programme on TV was excellent, would you still skip through the ads? Of course you would. The technology is there, so you will.

So, assume pay tv won't work (trust me it won't), what other ways do you expect TV companies to make money? And let's assume the TV companies have to operate in a commercial, capitalist system (just so we don't get sidetracked ). The only alternate model I can think of is an expanded licence fee, and I'm dubious that would work either, doesn't scale enough.

[bob269]

I'd like to make a sandwich between ads but i use too many rounds of bread and ultimately miss the programme when it starts again

DaGaffer, technology has changed, so has business, we don't need constant ads rammed down our throats but it's needed to fund the 400million crap channels we don't actually watch. Ad space has gone rediculous to the point that people now hate it, sky channels have 5-6mins ad breaks every 3 minutes, the channels are doubled via +1 etc. bottom line is there's fuck all good on tv (yes on all 400 million channels) so people are moving away from tv and downloading specific (albeit rare) programmes they wanna watch. The advertising agency has shot it's self in the foot by flooding the world with crap.

TV companies will make money when they admit they don't need 2,3,4,5 etc versions of the same channel (They've been making money all these years with 1 channel). The problem is they think by having more channels they get more airplay. Wrong, Scrap all the crap, reduce channels back to a sensible level thus reducing costs, job done

[Scouse]

I'd add to the above - companies have no right to make sure we see their products. If we don't want to watch adverts then that's the consumer's perogative.

If companies can't compete they should DIE. (Works for everyone unless you're a bank).

The answer isn't increasingly and forcibly invading our lives - people avoid ads for a reason. They don't fucking like them. If companies don't get this then they shouldn't be allowed to be more intrusive they should go out of business...