Technology to change viewing habits? (1 Viewer)

[John_Bonner]

I'm not a "prime time" viewer either. I use SageTv and record shows on my computer. I did notice the networks "fighting back" so to speak. If I remember correctly when The Apprentice was airing NBC would start the show at 8:59pm. Now if you had another show set to record from 8:00 to 9:00 or 8:30 to 9:00 you would get a conflict message. Depending on your PVR of choice going in and manually adjusting start/stop times can be somewhat of a hassle. And to have to do it every week started to become an annoyance. I kinda saw it as NBC's way of saying "F you" to the PVRer's out there.

 

[Jonathan Carter]

That's when I hit them with my dual tuner DVR box with everything set to record 2 min. early and go 2 min. over and my HTPC I built that is a fully featured DVR box also just in case I need to record 3 shows at once. It never happens, but it is handy.

Networks need to learn they will never be able to beat the technology so they should start figuring out ways to use it and embrace it.

 

[MickeS]

About NBC "fighting" back I don't think that's directed at PVR users so much as it's directed at the other channels. It's probably a way to mess up the schedule enough that they think viewers will just give up and watch NBC live and record the other channels.

NBC actually has some kind of deal with Tivo where during NBC promos they show a "Hit 'Thumbs up' to record" and you can click that one button to record the show when it airs. It would seem counterproductive for NBC to do that and then deliberately mess up the recordings (then again, who knows).



I agree. I know many Tivo users complain about the ads they have sometimes in the menu, but I like that kind of advertising where I can choose to watch it if I want to and if it's something that interests me. I think they're gonna have to do more of that in the future.
/Mike

 

[Ray Chuang]

Folks,

Actually, when Alvin Toffler wrote The Third Wave back in 1979 one thing he noted was that the arrival of the videocassette recorder already had eroded the concept of prime time because you can watch the program at a later time. All video on demand will do is just hyper-accelerate that trend.

Besides, with true video on demand the whole idea of start and stopping the recording at the right time becomes meaningless because video on demand will download the entire show in one stream on the next generation of high-speed broadband that will start rolling out by 2010 (today's three-megabit download speeds for cable broadband will be pokey compared to the 40-plus megabit download speeds of the successors to 802.11 WiFi wireless broadband and 80-plus megabit download speeds of optical fiber broadband!).

Isn't technology wonderful?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

It's funny, though. After missing the cold open on a few "E.R."'s I just tuned out entirely.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

I did the same thing for 'Friends' after missing the last 10? minutes.

I hope I am wrong here but I am worried about going digital, and the fact that the studios can control if I can or can't record it. I have notes in my DVR manual explaining it, even if it hasn't come about yet. They could force us back into prime-time viewing all over again. It would be like putting Macrovision on everything they broadcast.

Glenn

 

[Ted Lee]

ditto that, that, that *and* that!

since i have tivo, i actually have to ff through the commercials, but it takes what...10 seconds???

lanie - tivo will change the way you watch tv forever. i absolutely promise you that. it's so good it's almost revolutionary....no exaggeration. okay, well maybe just a little one.

 

[DaveF]

I'm not sure what's new now compared to ten or twenty years ago. I used a VCR from '94 - '03 to record and watch my favorite shows at my convenience. I recorded +/- 5 minutes to accomodate variable schedules and clock errors. I used the fast-forward to skip commercials. I even shared tapes with friends once in a while.

I've now got the Time-Warner DVR. It's better in almost every way than my VCR, but it's fundamentally the same. It hasn't changed my TV-watching paradigm, just improved it.

But I'm in the minority. Most people don't time-shift. Perhaps the incremental power of the DVR will push time-shifting into a majority behavior.

 

[Tim Abbott]

I have been wondering about this quite a bit recently. How can the networks continue if I am watching tv more often, but I have never seen fewer commercials in my life? The only solutions seem to be advertising in the programming, and I don't think that will go over well at all. I can see them putting some kind of ticker/trailer on the bottom of shows that constantly run advertising during the program. Then I will need to buy a device that filters that advertising out.

When will it end??

 

[Glenn Overholt]

I'm going to flip this one around. You don't actualy have to see the commercials - you just have to buy the product.
While it is true that you might be supporting a show that you hate, that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Glenn

 

[MickeS]

Ted Lee wrote:


You can turn the "skip until end" button into a 30-second skip button by pressing Select - Play - Select - 3 - 0 - Select while you are watching a recorded show. This will enable the 30-second skip on that button until the Tivo is rebooted, or until you press the sequence again. You'll have to press it at a deliberate and steady pace, if it doesn't take the first time try again. It's a great improvement.

/Mike

 

[DaveF]

That's exactly what I did: I had weekly programs recorded. You're right about the variable schedules being easier to deal with now.

No doubt the DVR is far more convenient than the VCR. Is that how this works en masse? There is a convenience/power threshold that when crossed, the new system will be adopted in dramatically new way causing a paradigm shift?