Screen Spam is getting worse (1 Viewer)

[Jason-A]

I think E! is the worse they use to do every 30min with the lasted entertainment news, but now it's every 15min for what feels like every show.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

True, and I don't think it's any coincidence that there's now a market for shows to buy, rather than record them off the air. Before the bug phenomenon I actually preferred to have recordings of shows exactly the way they first aired, including commercials- I'd just skip through them when watching, and then be glad to have them years later for nostalgia. The way they air now though, they're just unwatchable so it's either the DVD or nothing for me. (Side note- I recently got a few episodes of The Bionic Woman taped off the air in 1976, and most of the commercial breaks were no more than ONE minute long. You could watch the commercial break then actually remember where the show left off when it came back. The increased amount of commercial time now is bad enough, but ruining the time they do still give to the actual show seals the deal.)

The networks are now OWNED by movie studios though, and the way they ruin their programming makes one question their stand on quality. I have a LOT less respect for Fox as a company because of their TV network, even though their DVD department has turned out pretty good.

I also don't think it's any coincidence that "reality" type shows are popular now either- those are much easier to watch with a bug on the screen then, say a serious drama. (I once tried to watch NYPD Blue and the ABC logo ruined it because it make me think of Schoolhouse Rock!) Again, I don't know why the people behind the shows haven't raised a fuss about this. I would want nothing to do with a show aired this way.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Regarding the increase of time given over to ads: It's up by about ten minutes.

I like the original Star Trek. So, it's fun to note that, with its running time of 50 minutes, an individual episode feels better-thought-out, more complete, than, say, an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which clocks in at 42 minutes. And today's "hour-long" television programs now average out to 40 minutes. That missing ten minutes enabled the airing of an entire act in the drama.

Add to that all that has been discussed here -- station bugs, onscreen advertising during programming, time speed-ups, etc. -- and it's amazing that people are still watching (and they are).

Jesse, there's no disagreement here. But it is a fact that the networks are looking at their oh-so-precious bugs as branding exercises. It will continue to get worse until they are forced by someone or something to cut it back (or off).

We are, in fact, witnessing an entire generation of viewers who have never known "clean-screen TV."

Sad.

 

[Kevin M]

IMO that is exactly what has led to the glut of pop up garbage.....how long before they transfer it to the DVD sets of shows? Sound's like a joke but if you let them they will try to get away with most anything.

 

[MarkHastings]

I don't think it's because we are skipping commercials. Why do you ask? Jacks response is exactly why...

The networks are trying to find MORE ways to fit more commercials into the program. Cutting precious minutes of the show was the first step, NOW they are gaining more commercial time by putting the promos into the show. In other words, they've taken most of the promos away from the precious "Commerical" slots which allows more commercials to be aired in the same ammount of time as before.

 

[Harry-N]

If that were true, it would almost be understandable, but in fact it isn't. I've been noticing this ratio of commercials to network promos even more lately with the advent of HDD recorders that allow us to edit out the garbage.

In my recordings from this past year, I've noticed that virtually ever commercial break of anywhere from 3 and a half minutes to as long as 5 minutes features at least one or two full show promos. Often they are repeated within the same hour of television, and often they are for whatever's on next. These are all in ADDITION to the scrolling, bobbing, weaving, popups telling us that we're watching CSI and to stay tuned for WITHOUT A TRACE next, AFTER each commercial break.

It seems that with TV these days, it's not about what's on, but what's on NEXT. They're all afraid of the power we wield with the almighty remote.

 

[MarkHastings]

But if they are doing this because we skip the commercials, then how are we supposed to watch "what's on next" if what we are watching has already been recorded and there IS no such thing as 'up next'?

I can see it being effective (which I believe was what your post was really about) for those who 'flip' the station when a commercial comes on, or for those who do some other activity during the commercials, but I can't see the reason is because of the digital recorder (as was what the other posts seem to think was the reason).

 

[Kevin M]

IMO the pop-up's are absolutely a short term solution to their paranoia regarding viewers not watching their bread & butter commercials, and it will only get worse as time goes on. True that the initial Intellectual Property Protection bill was severely neutered/crushed in congress but not all bill's will be, eventually they will get their way.

 

[MarkHastings]

But they only show 'promos' during the shows. I wonder if they aren't allowed to show ads during the show or just not balsy enough (yet) to do so. Either way, they still aren't fighting back with those of us who skip commercials.

 

[Kevin M]

Weren't we discussing the fact that some now do this? Not just promo's & bugs but actual adds in the form of "you are now watching...brought to you by (vroom car drives by)..etc. etc.", I have seen this on CBS & various cable stations, it's only a matter of time before they expand.