SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
According to Doug Lynch at xda-developers.com:
Android TV owners recently received an update across multiple platforms that have started to display sponsored content with a "Promotional Channels' title in the launcher of the Android TV software. We're currently seeing reports that it has shown up in Sony smart TVs, the Mi Box 3 from Xiaomi, NVIDIA Shield TV, and others. This has been an incredibly off-putting change for a lot of Android TV users. What makes matters worse is people were unable to disable the ads at first, but Reddit user Felisens seems to have figured out how to disable them.
[...] Update: Google's response
A Google spokesperson gave us the following statement:
Android TV is committed to optimizing and personalizing the entertainment experience at home. As we explore new opportunities to engage the user community, we're running a pilot program to surface sponsored content on the Android TV home screen.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Friday April 05 2019, @02:05PM (8 children)
Yes, buy an even more locked in device. Apple will NEVER give you ads..... nosirreeee!!!!
Oh, you mean there's a reason that broadcast television, and even the cable TV you pay for, has to be supported by ads?
This is a case of newer generations intentionally burying their heads in the sand, or how programmed stupidity from our educational system has primed people to buy into marketing instead of thinking critically.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 05 2019, @03:16PM (1 child)
Oh, you mean because they know their content isn't valuable enough so that people would want to pay money just to see that content? Are you saying it's because they wouldn't be in business if they had to live off the money their viewers would give them themselves to be subjected to their drivel?
You mean the opposite of what NetFlix does?
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Friday April 05 2019, @06:17PM
Pretty much, yep. And don't think that NetFlix won't reach a price point where they can't bump up any further but a few little ads will work nicely. They might be the last to go but once no blowback happens on AndroidTV - and it won't - the way will have been paved for them.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 05 2019, @04:28PM (1 child)
No it doesn't. Putting ads in there is an admission that what you think your content is worth is not the same as what your viewers think it is worth because if they did, they'd pay that to you (and they don't, proving the point).
It's a further admissions that you are in the game for money and not for providing quality work. This would be fine, but then you must be honest and say it loud!
The fact that you think advertisement is a necessity shows that you have internalized and normalized its existence. You are incapable of imagining a world without it, and I find that sad and concerning.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by NotSanguine on Friday April 05 2019, @06:00PM
It's not that at all. Content providers often use ads to profit from their content (broadcast networks, basic cable, etc.), while others charge for their content (HBO, Netflix, etc.) to profit.
This is different. This is your TV's OS manufacturer showing you ads, for which *they* get paid, without actually providing any new benefit to users (they already paid for that TV, right? Notice I didn't say "buy" because apparently they didn't).
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 05 2019, @06:02PM (3 children)
I'm old enough to remember when cable TV first started being rolled out widely across the US. One of the main selling points to get people to pay for TV was the cry of "no ads!" Of course, after enough people were signed up, they started putting ads in, even on the supposedly "pay only" channels.
The reason that cable TV has ads is to make more profit. There was a time when a lot of cable channels didn't have ads. That time is gone.
Apple TVs will have ads eventually. Because they can.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Friday April 05 2019, @06:18PM
Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winnah! who remembers history.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 05 2019, @10:29PM (1 child)
You speak the truth. All those cable channels with ads on them now, well, what few there were back in the very early days (grand total channels amounted to something like 28) they actually had no ads. The ads snuck in later, after they had convinced you to pay for what you used to get for almost free (broadcast, but you had to suffer ads, so it wasn't truly free).
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Saturday April 06 2019, @12:59AM
Even worse, those 42-minutes show (18 minutes of ads per hour) get compressed/sped-up down to 37 minutes (23 minutes of ads per hour) during reruns.
How (older) Americans got lobotomized into accepting this as normal rather than flat-out cut the cord is always amazing me.
But then again, they do also watch a 4-hour broadcast with 11 minutes of actual plays in it, so they can comment on the ads the next day...