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Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

nytimes.com

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Re: Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

#71

Post by matheusmoreira »

sneak wrote: post #23
bosswipe wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only reason you can block ads on the web is because there was a small window where the idealistic academics that built the internet and the web were able to keep commercial interests out so they were able to use open universal protocols. The same will not be true for VR.

It’s already not true on mobile generally. No view source, no extensions, no user injected scripts. You get the page the server wants you to see.

Somehow people will find a way. If we can't have a universal browser, maybe the answer is to make a browser for every web service. We can make custom apps that pretend to be the official ones while interfacing with the company's servers.

Whatever it takes to maintain control.

Re: Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

#72

Post by dylan604 »

sjwright wrote: post #2

And the real question is: will history repeat itself with Netflix, et al? HBO demonstrates that it’s still an open question.

HBO also demands a higher fee than something like HGTV or A&E. The one that kills me is ESPN. It is the most expensive channel for a cable operator to carry, and it is also known as a must carry.

Re: Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

#74

Post by matheusmoreira »

dylan604 wrote: post #66
downerending wrote: post #7

It's like a creeping cancer that cannot be stopped. Back around 1981, advertisers would take a certain percentage of ad pages in each newspaper or magazine and consider it a reasonable deal. These days, they absolutely will not accept this unless they get a lot more space, obnoxious animations, force-play videos, and overlays that you have to click through, and often various registration walls, cross-site tracking, e…

> (My VR goggles will gray out billboards, etc.) I think it'll be the exact opposite. I think the Black Mirror episodes are closer to what will be in our (not too distant) future. The content will track your gaze, and if you are not looking at the ad, then measures will be taken to get your attention back to where "it should be".

The measures depicted in Black Mirror are straight up torture. Loud noise to punish people who refuse to look at advertisements? That level of abuse should be cause for violent resistance.

Re: Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

#75

Post by bovermyer »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #57
BurningFrog wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The TV zeitgeist is gone. People used to all watch the same shows at the same time.That made it the thing everyone had in common. Now TV is more like reading books. Everyone does it n their own time. It's still a big things, but it doesn't create a nationwide community. On top of this, you're also getting old :)

If you heard about Game of Thrones or Westworld or Stranger Things, or most recently, Tiger King, you'd realize this is very much still a thing for a large population. Weekly shows of certain types have massive speculation and plot discussion crowds with podcasts and analysis channels. Then there's a second viewership wave created by all the memes. Netflix's just drop the whole season model has cost them a lot in pub…

Yeah, but I no longer care. Twenty years ago, or ten years ago even, I would be adamant about keeping up with the latest series.

Now, though? I don't care about "tha memes." I don't care if I'm current in my analogies. I want to take care of the people I care about, and experience things that enrich my life.

Other people can care about memes and such, and I don't think any less of them for it. Not that they need my validation. But my own world revolves around different suns now.

Re: Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

#76

Post by caseysoftware »

magicalhippo wrote: post #59
timcederman wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have a citation for this? It's been 42-44 minutes of content for at least the last 20 years in my experience.

Checked some episodes from some shows I had available, first seasons, DVD or Bluray source: Miami Vice (1984): 48m Homicide Life On The Streets (1993): 47m TekWar (1994): 45m Nowhere Man (1995): 45m Battlestar Galactica (2003): 44m Dark Matter (2015): 43m 12 Monkeys (2015): 43m Lucifer (2015): 43m There are exceptions though. Legion (2017) episodes are around 50m, and several of the newer "made for streaming" shows h…

Thanks. The pattern isn't perfect but the trend is clear. These are Season 1, excluding pilots.

A-Team (1983): 49m

MacGyver (1985, original): 48m

Quantum Leap (1989): 47-48m

X-Files (1993): 43-44m

Monk (2002): 44m

Eureka (2006): 44m

MacGyver (2016, remake): 42-43m

Re: Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

#77

Post by blululu »

downerending wrote: post #41
nordsieck wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> With ML, eventually this will become pervasive, even into the physical world. (My VR goggles will gray out billboards, etc.) Will your glasses grey out James Bond's Aston Martin in Goldfinger?

No, because it will be smart enough to know that I enjoy seeing that.

This is the real dystopia. Ever talk to the adtech experts? The question they ask is how can we display the ads that people will enjoy seeing the most? Hence Instagram is effectively all ads.

Re: Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

#78

Post by darepublic »

bosswipe wrote: post #20
downerending wrote: post #7

It's like a creeping cancer that cannot be stopped. Back around 1981, advertisers would take a certain percentage of ad pages in each newspaper or magazine and consider it a reasonable deal. These days, they absolutely will not accept this unless they get a lot more space, obnoxious animations, force-play videos, and overlays that you have to click through, and often various registration walls, cross-site tracking, e…

The only reason you can block ads on the web is because there was a small window where the idealistic academics that built the internet and the web were able to keep commercial interests out so they were able to use open universal protocols. The same will not be true for VR.

no hope for open source?

Re: Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

#79

Post by Nextgrid »

matheusmoreira wrote: post #71
sneak wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s already not true on mobile generally. No view source, no extensions, no user injected scripts. You get the page the server wants you to see.

Somehow people will find a way. If we can't have a universal browser, maybe the answer is to make a browser for every web service. We can make custom apps that pretend to be the official ones while interfacing with the company's servers. Whatever it takes to maintain control.

Does anyone really have the time and motivation? It seems like so far there aren't any alternative clients (basic web wrappers don't count) for services that need it the most - think WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, etc?

Re: Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

#80

Post by celeritascelery »

jagged-chisel wrote: post #16
nordsieck wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> With ML, eventually this will become pervasive, even into the physical world. (My VR goggles will gray out billboards, etc.) Will your glasses grey out James Bond's Aston Martin in Goldfinger?

Not really necessary unless Bond’s current fling proclaims “This is a truly astonishing automobile, James. From which dealer is it available, and are there any current incentives?”

If only advertising was so opaque.
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