Broadcasters, Cable Bicker Over 'TV Everywhere'Disney feels cheated while Time Warner suggests they stop whining... 09:43AM Thursday Sep 17 2009 by Karl Bodetags: Video · business · cable · contentTipped by JSRoman  So far Disney isn't playing along with the cable industry's "TV Everywhere" project, which aims to offer existing customers free Internet video as an incentive not to cut the cord. Speaking at an investor's conference, Disney this week complained the new system doesn't deliver "proper compensation," while Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes fired back, saying that broadcasters are "not the ones who are going to the effort and expense of making this possible." Meanwhile, there continues to be a push to take the offline ad model online: The networks participating in the Comcast trial have different approaches to commercials in the online environment. Some are experimenting with an abbreviated ad load, which might include an ad before and after the program with few interruptions in between. "And then there are networks on the other end of the spectrum who are very interested in testing a full ad load, similar to what you would watch on television," said Matt Strauss, senior vice president of new media at Comcast, in an interview with MarketWatch last week. Disney and Time Warner's lover's quarrel comes on the heels of news that TV Everywhere is so far a jumble of non-standards, with each carrier approaching implementation of the system differently. Ironically, bickering between broadcasters and TV operators, limited selection, walled gardens and unskippable ads are exactly the sort of thing that will drive consumers to alternative video operations or piracy -- the very thing TV Everywhere was supposed to stop.
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 rick1991
join:2003-01-22
East Fultonham, OH
| Day late and a dollar short This is nothing new. Every time something new comes along the big dogs can't see past next quarter's profits. They should have learned by now to embrace the future instead of fight it. They will end up just like the music industry once this takes off. Truth be told the RIAA is probably still looking for a way to shove the mp3 cat back into the bag. | |
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SLD
Premium
join:2002-04-17
 ·Comcast
| Ads? If they want to interrupt a show, they can find another viewer. I refuse to watch a show that keeps breaking out of context into ads.
Talk about losing the effect of being in the movie!
If they need to show ads, show them before, not during. | |
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Eat Me
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ
 ·PenTeleData
 ·Future Nine Corpor..
·VOIPo
·Vonage
| Re: Ads? said by SLD :If they want to interrupt a show, they can find another viewer. I refuse to watch a show that keeps breaking out of context into ads. Talk about losing the effect of being in the movie! If they need to show ads, show them before, not during. Then I hope you don't mind paying a subscription fee per channel. Otherwise, ads are here to stay. | |
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SLD
Premium
join:2002-04-17 | Re: Ads? I certainly do NOT mind paying a subscription fee to avoid ads. I loved having HBO and Showtime, but I dropped them because Comcast required me to purchase $55 or unwanted "services" for the privilege of ordering the two pay channels.
No thanks! | |
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dddane
join:2002-01-10
Chicago, IL
1 edit | said by Eat Me Then I hope you don't mind paying a subscription fee per channel. Otherwise, ads are here to stay.
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..or tons of product placement. | |
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SLD
Premium
join:2002-04-17 | Re: Ads? I was working out and watching a rerun of CSI NY, and I pressed the 30second skip button 10 times through the last ad group. That is 5 solid minutes of ads! By the time you'd watch those, you'd forget what show you were trying to see. | |
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badtrip
East Bay
Premium
join:2004-03-20
Albany, CA
 ·Unwired Ltd
·Comcast
| Re: Ads? said by SLD :5 solid minutes of ads! By the time you'd watch those, you'd forget what show you were trying to see. I agree 100% that ads can disrupt and ruin the viewing experience. That's why I don't watch movies on broadcast TV. Actually, I don't watch broadcast TV that much at all and when I do it's usually PBS.
But now that I think about it, I should have posted:
"Ads no longer make me irate because I'm not paying cash for content access."
I think that would be a better statement =) | |
| AstroBoy
join:2008-08-08
Parkville, MD | Few or no ads! If they are stupid and put in too many ads, we will continue do download the shows from the Internet using a better source! | |
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maartena
Stacked.
Premium
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA
·RoadRunner Cable
| Do it right. I would be willing to add $5 to my monthly bill if it adds online video, to which I must log on using a verified account name and password (that I would able to create using my account number), which then includes the ability to watch online, a selection of say....100 channels, including the LOCAL channels, on ANY online PC in the world.
That means I can watch my Angels games while staying with my parents in Europe, or watch the local news while on business in another state.
To prevent fraud, you could limit it to 1 IP address at a time, or maybe 2 if you also want your wife to watch it on the road when you are both away on business.
But do it the RIGHT way. One system.
--
"I reject your reality and substitute my own!" | |
| | jazzlady
join:2005-08-04
Bartonsville, PA
·ProLog
| Re: Do it right. said by maartena :I would be willing to add $5 to my monthly bill if it adds online video, to which I must log on using a verified account name and password (that I would able to create using my account number), which then includes the ability to watch online, a selection of say....100 channels, including the LOCAL channels, on ANY online PC in the world. But do it the RIGHT way. Yes, and lose the monthly caps too.... | |
| Michael C
join:2009-06-26
Cedar Park, TX
4 edits | They're missing a key point A full ad load on offline TV is pointless. Most people now DVR everything and skip commercials. I would think networks would prefer to have an abreviated yet unskippable ad load, rather than a full load that is skipped and never viewed.
I have personally found that the single commercial interruption (15-30 seconds) you get with Hulu to be very acceptable. By the time I'm wondering where the remote is or how to skip the ad, it's over already.
For movies, I'm more than willing to pay for an ad-free version. | |
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dddane
join:2002-01-10
Chicago, IL
| Re: They're missing a key point said by Michael C :A full ad load on offline TV is pointless. Most people now DVR everything and skip commercials. actually, statistically very few people DVR everything and skip commercials. i think the assumption always is that DVR owners do this frequently, but statistically even in 2009 that's not what the numbers are saying. | |
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NoelC
D S L R Bliss
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-03
Florida
| Just a few quick ads, please! Ads may be fine to support the industry financially for those who don't pay for service, but not 10 of them in a row - on cable TV I pay for every month! When did it happen that television has almost no actual content any more?!?
Make the ads skippable (or the feed recordable) but insert only one of them, only only now and then. As mentioned above w/regard to Hulu, most folks will watch right through the first ad if they know the show is coming back on.
It's when the ad content lasts 7 minutes between 5 minute bursts of show that people look for other alternatives. C'mon execs: Capitalism is fine, but by God stop trying to get filthy rich in seconds!! YOU DON'T ADD THAT MUCH VALUE TO THE WORLD. There is a limit to how much this entertainment is actually worth.
There's such a thing as having so much greed that all the good is lost.
-Noel | |
| RchrdEllis
join:2007-06-11
Narberth, PA
·Verizon Online DSL
| Ads on the net I've been viewing one of my favorite shows (America's Got Talent) online via NBC.com "video rewind" service. Since it is an exact copy of the show there are spots for the advertising blitz we all have come to hate. They insert an un-skippable ad in the same spot, but it is only 30 seconds long (and all by the same sponsor). I really don't mind an ad of that length. What is truly amazing is that a two hour broadcast shrinks down to approx. 85 minutes, meaning that it is over a half hour shorter. Over a quarter of our time watching the telly live is spent with watching the drivel the ad companies put out.
This is straight internet so it really doesn't fit in to the article's premise, but I have been resisting the "cable TV" world of high monthly bills. I think internet accessible content "on-demand" with short ads is the way to go. | |
| Simon425
join:2009-04-24
| CTV's failed attempts Watching a show on CTV's website:
1. Wait for first 15 sec add to finish. No problem.
2. Show starts, good audio/visual quality. Can't hear, turn volume up...up...up. Now I can hear. Great. Watch 7 minutes of show. Show cuts out in middle of word/sentence/dramatic moment.
3. Player exits full screen to play add. Wake up neighbors because of woefully mismatched volume levels between adds and show. Turn down volume. Ad finishes
4. Show begins again, seems like 10-30 seconds past where it left off. Get up to put show back into full screen. Turn up volume...way up. Sit back down.
5. New flash adds load on page while I'm watching. Screen minimizes. Get up to put to full screen again.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 every 7ish minutes.
No thanks CTV, I'll watch megavideo, tudou, youku or the likes. Fix your player, no one likes having to repeatedly get up to deal with your incompetence while their trying to relax. | |
| jdigger
join:2009-11-11
1 edit | Hmmm. That's why the Internet DVR was invented over at MyHomeDVR.com folks. | |
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Why don't these clowns charge per frame for content.
The service providers need to learn that their customers do not have unlimited financial resources like their CEO's. There is a limit to how much money a person can afford to spend each month for additional services. Service providers appears not to see that their offering is not the only offering that a customer can choose from.