Commercials are starting to irritate

[jambo101]

Now that i'm retired i am watching a bit more tv but the amount of time dedicated to commercials is becoming very irritating trying to watch a show where it seems like there's as much time spent on commercials as the actual show is making me wonder if with modern technology there is a way to watch tv without the commercials.Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[Rambler]

Now that i'm retired i am watching a bit more tv but the amount of time dedicated to commercials is becoming very irritating trying to watch a show where it seems like there's as much time spent on commercials as the actual show is making me wonder if with modern technology there is a way to watch tv without the commercials.Any ideas would be appreciated.

I think you can if you pre-record with TiVo...I don't have one but that is what I heard.

R

 

[WhoDaresWins]

I have heard the same thing about TiVo from friends who have one. I hit the mute button a lot. I agree, the commercials are maddening. When I go to the movies, I go 15 minutes after the start of the feature film, especially at a big mall cinema. Can't take all the blaring commercials and coming attractions.

 

[freebird5825]

dh2b is the TV watcher in the household. He puts it on channels I can stomach (History, Science, SciFi) which seem to have a bit fewer commercials than prime time channels. When commercials come on, he will flip over to another "good" channel for a few minutes or hit the mute button after receiving the "look" from me. The volume of commercials is always set to "blaring".
Our digital cable box can be set to record any channel, with multiple time slot programming, to allow later viewing. He uses the blessed fast forward button on the remote to get through commercials.

 

[Coach]

jambo, I'm with you. I have gotten to the point that I cannot tolerate the endless commercials. I watch very little TV on commercial channels anymore; what I do watch is recorded on a DVR so I can fast forward through commercials.

I do recommend tivo or a DVR. In addition to being able to skip commericals, you can watch when you want rather than when the show is broadcast.

I spend most of my TV time on PBS and free movie channels like TCM and IFC.

Coach

 

[Payin-the-Toll]

I use a DVR---we record 5-6 hour shows a week. Seems most of the shows we want to watch are on at 10PM, and we're never up that late. Don't have a TIVO because I think there's a monthly fee associated with it. Blank DVD's cost somewhere around 50 cents and we can record 8 hours on each disc. We have a 40" Samsung LCD TV, and it has some kind of sound leveling feature which tones down the volume of the commercials.

 

[Zathras]

My folks actually pause the football games and start watching them 30 minutes late (or so) so they can fast forward through commercials.
I don't mind them, as I use the breaks to get a snack or surf the web (or post here).

 

[TromboneAl]

I never watch commercials, and haven't since the day we got our first VCR. They would drive me crazy.

For years I had a VCR that could detect commercials (increase in volume, momentary black air, etc), and skip through them. It wasn't fool proof though.

But for the last five years or so, we've recorded things with our Panasonic DVR similar to this one. Everything is recorded to the hard drive, and automatically labeled with show name and date/time. The DVR gets show info from the cable company.

When watching the playback, you press the "jump ahead by 1 minute" button several times whenever a commercial starts. If you overshoot, you back up a bit. I'm astounded that sometimes there are seven or more minutes of commercials!

Something that bugs me now is commercial DVDs that force you to watch previews. That is, you put the DVD in the player, and it starts playing previews. The Menu button and the fast-forward buttons are disabled! DVD publishers should not be allowed to take away your control of the machine.

To counteract this, I put the DVD in the player before I am ready to watch it. Then when I switch the TV to the DVD player, it's already at the main menu. Instead of choosing Play Movie, I select Select Scene and choose the first one. This sometimes allows me to skip the FBI copy warnings and other legal notices.

 

[happy2bretired]

My folks actually pause the football games and start watching them 30 minutes late (or so) so they can fast forward through commercials.
I don't mind them, as I use the breaks to get a snack or surf the web (or post here).

That's my method using cable DVR. I love the pause button...watch what I want on my time.

 

[jambo101]

Sporting events i usually tape because they are on the weekends and i'm usually busy but shows like "so You Think You Can Dance" was pure misery this year as after every dance you would have to sit through 12-15 commercials and waste 7-10 minutes waiting for the commercial crap to end,I've also noted that the commercials are on most of the channels at the same time.

 

[Sue J]

I thought I was the only one. I've found I've become intolerant of commercials. On the TV without the TiVo I flip channels when there is a commercial, but a lot of channels have their commercials at the same time.

On the TV with the TiVo I'll watch 2 tv shows at the same time, accumulating enough in the buffer so that when one show goes to commercial I flip to the other tuner and watch some of that show until it has commercials and then go back to the other show. You've got to be clever with your thumb and be careful not to doze off.

We have not upgraded to HD yet but a few months ago my favorite TV, a 27 inch in the LR with the TiVo, died. It may have been a power surge or something, it also zapped our TiVo. I replaced the TiVo with a used one on eBay and we moved a 13 inch TV from another room into the LR. I got used to the picture size but I cannot read text on that small screen from across the room.

I keep thinking, "it's just TV", not all that important in the big picture (yes, that's a pun).

The next step is to upgrade the DirecTV service to HD, get an HD TV and an HD TiVo. The hesitation right now is that DH's job has been unstable for a while and he thinks it will only get worse, not better. Not the best time to be upgrading TV equipment.

Our son has his own 32 inch HDTV in his room and moved it to the LR for the Indy 500 race at the end of May. He has conveniently left it in the LR for the family to use. I know he's going to want it back soon, but for now I appreciate his generosity. It's given us a chance to see the difference in HD and find that a 32 inch will be just fine when we decide to upgrade.

 

[LoftyNotions]

When we bought our first TiVo, we thought we'd primarily use the pause during live TV feature. It wasn't long before we had all our favorites scheduled to auto-record. We almost never watch programs at their scheduled times any more. The one exception is sporting events. We'll typically start watching an hour or so after the event starts. We can then fast forward through all the commercials and other garbage. We generally set up sports to record an extra hour or so in case of overtime or weather delays.

We have a lifetime subscription that we transferred to our Hi Def TiVo, which has more than paid for itself. The Hi Def TiVos will record 2 broadcast programs at once, and you can prioritize what you want to record in case 3 programs are in the same time slot.

Hi Def programming takes up a lot more disk space, so we've added an external storage device.

Al in all, it has been one of our better purchases.

 

[DallasGuy]

I bought a DVR last February that works with the over-the-air signals (i.e. antenna) and I usually record what I want to watch using that and then watch it later and fast forward through the commercials. FYI...For those people that don't have cable or a dish service, the DVR I found that records in high definition and works with the over-the-air signal is the DTVPal DVR....it works great for me and the best part is that there's no monthly fee. From what I've read, it's the only DVR on the market that records in high definition using an antenna AND has no monthly fee.

 

[bssc]

I agree with everyone that the DVR is the way to go, well worth the money. We just start watching 20 minutes later and end watching at the same time the show ends. Unfortunately, the only show I watch is over but DW enjoys not watching commericials, especially those awful Geico ones. Warren, what were you thinking?

 

[W2R]

Sure makes the DVR seem attractive.

Today and tomorrow are Louisiana's "no state sales tax" days. So, just out of idle curiousity I went to the Best Buy website to see what Best Buy might have to offer.

WHEN are electronics manufacturers going to realize that people are willing to pay an extra $10 if they could have BIG buttons about an inch square in bright red, green, and/or white, with BIG labels in bold letters about 1/2" high.

Most people don't watch TV under a spotlight, and unless you arrange it so that the DVR is at eye level then it is a PITA to try to operate one.

Or am I just feeling cranky today? I'll just keep pushing that mute button. Or, I should remember that most DVR's probably come with remotes and I should operate them that way (if I can somehow manage to insert the blank DVD).

BTW, it's not just how many commercials, it is also the type that is changing. I don't mind listening to the ones that aren't annoying but the ones that try to persuade me that I have some disease or other (and need to push my doc for a drug) are annoying, as are the Viagra/Cialis commercials. A person would think we were a nation of chicken-wing craving hypochondriacal bedwetters with sexual problems if one believed the commercials.

 

[Rustward]

When we bought our first TiVo, we thought we'd primarily use the pause during live TV feature. It wasn't long before we had all our favorites scheduled to auto-record. We almost never watch programs at their scheduled times any more. The one exception is sporting events. We'll typically start watching an hour or so after the event starts. We can then fast forward through all the commercials and other garbage. We generally set up sports to record an extra hour or so in case of overtime or weather delays.

We have a lifetime subscription that we transferred to our Hi Def TiVo, which has more than paid for itself. The Hi Def TiVos will record 2 broadcast programs at once, and you can prioritize what you want to record in case 3 programs are in the same time slot.

Hi Def programming takes up a lot more disk space, so we've added an external storage device.

Al in all, it has been one of our better purchases.

Agree on all points. We have a Series 3 (High Def) and a Series 2 Dual Tuner. You can program a button to skip ahead 30 seconds and we use that to get past the commercials. We rarely watch anything live any more. There are DVRs and there are Tivos. A Tivo is a DVR, but a DVR is not necessarily a Tivo. Tivo is very good at "finding" the programs you tell it to record.
A little pricey but well worth it, if you watch any TV.

 

[freebird5825]

...A person would think we were a nation of chicken-wing craving hypochondriacal bedwetters with sexual problems if one believed the commercials.

I'll confess to the chicken wing crime.

 

[W2R]

I'll confess to the chicken wing crime.

Well just don't buy them from Rally's, OK? That commercial is one of the worst.

On the other hand I like the Popeye's commercial where she defines "bonafide" and ends by saying, "and that is your English lesson for the day!"

 

[Rustic23]

Dishnetwork DVR! It has a button that fast forwards 30 sec. for any recorded show. We virtually never watch anything live. Even shows like American Idol, we will record and watch an hour later. The real trick is record two shows and switch when ever a comercial comes on. This option is not popular with DW.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Stop watching "live" TV and instead watch all the excellent cable shows
via netflix: The Wire, Deadwood, The Sopranos ... the list goes on and
on. Network TV used to have some pretty good dramas (NYPD Blue,
The West Wing) but those are gone and never were as good as the HBO
series I listed above; the dramas on network TV now are pitiful ...

 

[aaronc879]

I watch upwards of 40 hrs of tv a week and haven't watched a single commercial in over 5 years(except Superbowl commercials). I have a DVR with my cable company. I never watch anything live. Even sporting events, i'll pause it and check e-mail or do something else for a few minutes, then go back and watch so that when a commercial comes up I can fast forward through it. With a DVR you can use the restroom or get a snack from the kitchen while the show is paused and never miss anything good then fast forward thru the commercials. Don't know how I ever got by without it.

Warning: If you get one, you'll never be able to watch tv without one again!

 

[jambo101]

DVR? TIVO? I've still got a VCR hooked up to a regular 19 inch TV,with the amount of commercials i'm not too enthusiastic about spending the big bucks on expensive upgrades just to watch commercials half the time. As for taping shows it works well to watch a show with the fast forward option but i only have a certain time of the day (7-10pm) to watch tv and if i tape shows i dont get a chance to watch them as i'm watching favorite regurly scheduled programs.
I remember on a trip to England some time ago they dont get commercials instead every one pays a licensing fee for tv once a year.

 

[Nords]

DVR? TIVO? I've still got a VCR hooked up to a regular 19 inch TV,with the amount of commercials i'm not too enthusiastic about spending the big bucks on expensive upgrades just to watch commercials half the time.

We have a cable TV subscription feeding two single-tuner Series 2 TiVos. Each one has a wireless adaptor to access our computer network, but they worked just fine over the land line.

Everybody's ditching their Series 2 TiVos for the Series 3 HD boxes. We bought one Series 2 on Craigslist for $85 (including wireless adaptor) and the other for $25. The first lifetime subscription was $399, which is about a 30-month payback over the monthly fee. The second lifetime subscription was $299. You may find desperate Craigslist sellers who are motivated to transfer their subscriptions for a reduced price.

One single-tuner TiVo snags 99% of what spouse cares to watch, especially when shows go on haitus and start airing repeats. Two tuners gets everything she could possibly care about as soon as it's broadcast. One remote control button on the TiVo executes 30-second commercial skips, so she goes through the block of them in under 30 seconds.

You might prefer one dual-tuner Series 2 TiVo, but the advantage of two separate machines in two different rooms is that our spouse watches what she wants and our teen watches what she wants. No more arguing about turning off the TV or popping in a VCR tape-- she knows she can resume right where she left off. No more time wasted on "America's Next Top Model" when she has constant reruns of "I Love Lucy" and "The Cosby Show" to make fun of. No more usurping Mom's machine when our backs are turned or staying up late when she should be sleeping. Our kid can browse Mom's TiVo queue anytime from her TiVo and transfer shows over the wireless network to her machine, which leads to many teachable moments from Oprah, Suze, and Nova. Mom can browse the kid's queue from her recliner and pull the recordings she wants. The only time either one of them has to haul their butts out of the recliners is if they want to add a search to the other TiVo.

TiVo usually checks the programming guide every day or two, so it's rarely surprised by schedule changes. Everyone can schedule or search to their heart's content. I'm totally out of the job of updating recording schedules and swapping VCR tapes among our half-dozen VCRs. The TiVo also uses less power than a bank of VCRs, so our electrical consumption has dropped. I can't tell when it's using the wireless network but if that gets to be a problem then routers usually have software to handle priorities.

Wait until our kid learns that her TiVo will work with her Netflix account. I've seen no reason to make it easier for her to find content.

I was a real slow TiVo adopter, but now there's no goin' back...