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This puts an actual smile on my face:
Media companies, including Time Warner Inc., 21st Century Fox Inc. and Viacom Inc., have started cutting back on commercials after years of squeezing in as many ads as possible.
The new strategy is an attempt to appeal to younger viewers, who are more accustomed to watching shows ad-free on online streaming services like Netflix Inc., and to advertisers concerned their messages are being ignored amid all the commercial clutter.
Time Warner's truTV will cut its ad load in half for prime-time original shows starting late next year, Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bewkes said last week on an earnings call. Viacom has recently slashed commercial minutes at its networks, which include Comedy Central and MTV. Earlier this month, Fox said it will offer viewers of its shows on Hulu the option to watch a 30-second interactive ad instead of a typical 2 1/2-minute commercial break. Fox says the shorter ads, which require viewers to engage with them online, are more effective because they guarantee the audience's full attention.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by jdavidb on Thursday November 12 2015, @05:56PM
I don't want to be advertised to any more. I don't have anything contemptuous to say about advertisers (well, maybe not much), I don't think they are the spawn of Satan, I don't think advertising should be illegal or laws should be passed about the situation or advertisers should be disemboweled or anything or have their children drawn and quartered or whatever. I just want to avoid advertising as much as possible.
I want to pay a flat fee and get access to all content, no ads. I don't want to pay the fee and find that something's not available, especially if it's something I want to see from more than ten or even seven years ago. I want to get Arrow, I want to get shows from the 60s, movies from the 30's, I want it all, and I want it without ads.
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 12 2015, @08:54PM
Hi, Invisible Hand here. I've provided you with just what you want: the DVD box set. No ads, just TV.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 13 2015, @01:47AM
> I want to pay a flat fee and get access to all content, no ads.
WIll not happen. It used to be that if you weren't paying you were the product. Nowadays even if you do pay you are still the product, they just aren't so blatant about reminding you. They will record all your viewing habits - shows, pauses, rewinds, time of watch, duration of watch, location of watch, etc. Then they will sell that info on to be used to market at you from other directions - like the way facebook has teamed up with tivo, etc to show people ads on the web for stuff in the shows they watch. And don't forget in-show advertising - they will digitally insert from a list of products tailered to your profile. That box on the shelf in the background - if your family has a history alcoholism it will be case of vodka, if you have a newborn it will be box of diapers. And this is not new pie-in-the-sky conspiracy theory shit, they've been doing it for years. [adweek.com]
You want freedom from advertising? Get a VPN and torrent your tv shows. You'll get whatever product-placement ads the originally pirate got, but at least it won't be watching you back. Also, don't put your TV on the net at all - vizio does this thing where they do a low-rez sample of the picture once a second and send that to back to the mothership in order to identify what shows you are watching regardless of playback source.