CanuckofSteel Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 As I said, there are also live streams available due to services like NBA pass, NHL gamecenter live, Dish network's streaming service along with other "illegal methods" like XBMC where you can have 1000 live channels streaming on your TV. So what would be the difference between cable and the services I mentioned? I record pretty much everything that I watch, only thing I actually watch live is sports. I personally just favour the traditional cable route, it's also good to have if sometimes the wifi happens to go out. I also wouldn't pay for NHL Gamecentre or NBA pass as I barely watch any NBA games and I mostly just watch Canucks games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stawns Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Cable TV is speeding up its shows slightly to show you more ads Commercial time increased on some channels by minutes per hour in the past year. It's not news that reruns of Friends aren't what cable TV really wants you to be watching. Networks make money by showing ads, and for years those networks have been looking for ways to pack in more and more quick spots to get you to buy Charmin, Tide, and Viagra. Now, the Wall Street Journal reports that many networks are desperately trying to increase the number of commercials you watch per hour, sometimes resorting to subtly speeding up older shows and reruns in an effort to recapture the revenue from tanking ratings. The Journal notes that TBS used compression technology to speed up the Wizard of Oz during its airing last November, causing pop-culture writer Stephen Cox to notice that the munchkins' voices were pitched higher than normal. TBS, TNT, and TV Land have also sped up shows including Seinfeld and Friends. Speeding up shows isn't the only way networks are trying to fit in ad time. On TNT, reruns of Law and Order have truncated opening credits—once a minute and 45 seconds long, the introduction is now just 24 seconds. “It feels wrong,” Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman told the Journal about the show's “squashed” opening and closing credits. “It is not how it was shot, written, or imagined. It wasn’t meant to be that way, so don’t make it that way." In 2014, A&E averaged three more minutes of commercial time per hour than it did in 2013. The History Channel averaged two more minutes year-over-year. The changes come as cable TV is struggling to maintain viewership and fighting for valuable advertising dollars. Still, packing more commercials in per hour may be self-serving to the detriment of networks' relationships with both viewers and advertisers. Commercial clutter not only makes it more difficult for advertisers to get their message across to viewers, it also turns viewers away from the cable TV experience. “It is a way to keep the revenue from going down as much as the ratings,” a top executive at one major cable programmer told the Journal. “The only way we can do it is to double down and stretch the unit load a little more.” Cable networks have some tough competition ahead. A glut of commercials has turned viewers increasingly to Internet-based subscription services like Netflix, Hulu, and now Amazon. Netflix and Amazon have also made splashes in developing original content, with Amazon also announcing that it would produce 12 feature films for theatrical release. Even traditional cable networks have turned to delivering “over the top” subscriptions, allowing users to forgo paying for a traditional cable package and just buy standalone content via an Internet connection. HBO is the most anticipated of those endeavors—it plans to launch its standalone streaming service in March of this year. Earlier this year, Dish also announced Sling TV, a streaming service for $20 a month that comes complete with over a dozen network channels. Sling TV, however, still delivers those hated commercials, and there's no way to fast-forward through them, DVR-style. Undoubtedly, cable TV providers will continue exploring every avenue to ensure that viewers are watching as many ads as possible. http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/02/cable-tv-is-speeding-up-its-shows-slightly-to-show-you-more-ads/ This article made me think how, in a meta sense we're witnessing the spasms of a dying beast, the Cable TV. In a few decades from now, when history is written about this shift in media consumption, they will point out the petty ways cable companies today are trying squeeze their dwindling customer base. Personally, I haven't had a TV for going on six years now, and I don't miss it one bit. Truth be told, commercials are the most interesting thing on TV when I do watch it at a friend's house. It's just sad scrolling through however many dozen HD channels they have, and finding absolutely nothing to watch. Ancient Aliens, Hillbillies Doing Hillbilly Things, and Storage Wars. No wonder cable is dying. cable TV, what's that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthecivil Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 I don't know... No TV and Ad Block make my ad exposure pretty non-existent already. Don't worry if that's the case they are working on it. Heavily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthecivil Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Thats why you go with internet providers like Techsavvy or other small ISPs instead of giant companies like Shaw or Telus. How the heck do you even know if they service your area? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.