ABC has held discussions on the use of technology that would disable fast forwarding through commercial breaks. In essence, disabling the fast forward button of a recording device. ABC President of Advertising Sales Mike Shaw had this to say:
Make sure to read the Media Daily News article in it's entirety if you would like to read the other thoughts that this gentleman from ABC has put forth. He has some theories that are a bit off the mark when it comes to consumers desires and wishes. It seems he is living in a different world as a pitcher of ads, rather than being the receiver. But, he must find a paradigm that allows the television ad based model to continue in a profitable manner.
In the case of a DVR, yes it is true that we like to watch TV shows when we want, rather than when they are broadcast. But, due to the mind numbing amount of commercials that are included with each and every broadcast, there is no way I would watch anything that did not allow the skipping of commercials. A 90 minute movie now takes around 3 hours to watch if you were physically able to sit through the ads. Often, there are critical scenes removed from a show, in order to keep it at that length! It completely destroys the primary purpose of the broadcast, which is entertainment for the end user.
Another good use for a TiVo is to make sure you are not in a commercial induced trance and miss the forecast for the weather. The stations first draw you into a near catatonic state with the explanation of what the heck happened in the weather during the day, as if you don't remember. Then they hit you with a string of commercials. Then, all of a sudden, they show the forecast for the entire week for a total of 8 seconds. This is when I need my TiVo to stop, rewind and freeze the forecast so I can absorb it, whilst I regain my senses. Then I turn off the TV, wondering why I simply didn't just check the Internet instead.
If TiVo was stripped of the ability to fast forward through commercials, I would drop it in a heartbeat. Any decent TV series or movie, will come out on DVD and these can be rented quite cheaply sans commercial breaks.
The only solution that makes sense, is to simply use placement type ads within the shows, (this is already quite common) that way, there is no way to miss the product endorsements. It is already an issue however, for writers of certain series, as they are being pressured to include references for products so frequently into the script, that it is making it hard to dovetail them into the storyline. It's amazing that with all the ad placements within a show, that every several minutes the shows must be stalled for a barrage of annoying and ineffective 20, 30 and 60 second spots, broadcast at an increased sound level. I guess they need to crank the volume for those of us that are headed to the fridge for another drink or snack. They know we're not watching the darn thing!
Source: Media Daily News
