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Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

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Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#341

Post by darepublic »

nostrademons wrote: post #51
neals wrote: post #5

I accidentally watched some TV the other day. Having not seen any regular programming for at least a year, I was amazed at how much ... dumber it has become. Also, why did we sit through so many commercials for so long? It feel a little like a twilight zone episode, where we sit there watching a box telling us what to buy.

I suspect regular programming isn't getting dumber, the alternatives are just getting smarter. When I look at the crap I watched as a kid in the 80s (which included a good amount of 70s reruns), basically all broadcast TV today is far superior. But the competition for broadcast TV isn't "no competition" now, it's the Internet, and computer games, and Netflix. The entertainment industry has been blown wide open by the…

Cool to learn about this factorio game, but pretty sure its not as popular as super mario bros was back in the day.

Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#342

Post by narrator »

alwaysnotright wrote: post #203

I watched a lot of TV and commercials as a young kid on Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Disney channels, commercials ranging from baby dolls, batman and Lego. I wanted a lot of the stuff they showed on TV, and I got gifted a lot, but not everything. I come from a middle class norwegian family which meant that we could afford a lot of toys and stuff, but not everything at once. I don't think it influenced me that muc…

The worst part about TV commercials for toys is the jingles for the toys are still with me all these years later. I really should be using that part of my brain for something else.

Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#343

Post by cvsh »

mmanfrin wrote: post #294

I have an iPhone, an Amazon Echo, and a Google Home device. I recently had to watch live TV because I was watching a sports game, and the number of ads that targeted my listening devices was obscene. Every other ad was either for the Echo or Home, or for something unrelated but mentioning 'Hey Siri, tell me about [product being sold]'. To me, it feels like it's an effort to subvert the always-listening/always-watchin…

>or for something unrelated but mentioning 'Hey Siri, tell me about [product being sold]'.

What? Seriously? Commercials try to hijack your devices? Isn't this fairly clear-cut unauthorized access of a computer system, and therefore criminal?

Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#344

Post by cvsh »

lev99 wrote: post #189
chmod775 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really mind if the product placement is subtle, and they don't start shooting from different angles just to show the thing off. If the protagonist is going to use a laptop computer anyways, I don't care if Apple or DELL paid them so it's going to be one of theirs.

30 Rock also had good product placement, often times making jokes about how forced a product placement in the show was. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d36wUmJGzvA

That's actually pretty clever since it draws the viewer's attention and also associates good feelings (humor) with the brand. So it's a parody of product placement that also happens to be an extremely effective form of product placement. Smart.

Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#345

Post by mekkkkkk »

pesfandiar wrote: post #126
DubiousPusher wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think TV remains popular with certain people largely out of ease of use. You can just turn it on and you don't have to make a decision about what to watch. It's always there. Also, changing would require learning something new. People genuinely find learning to have a level of discomfort so they avoid it. https://arstechnica.com/science/2013/03/learning-hurts-your-...

I wonder why Netflix doesn't add a "random content" button. That's one of the appeals of TV versus Netflix that could be replicated very easily. Something more akin to changing channels like "random cartoon" or "random comedy" would remove one last obstacle in the way of converting cable subscribers.

The swedish national television streaming service had a big push for that a few years back. They launched a completely separate streaming service to mimic the linear experience, very much like what you describe. It didn't catch on at all.

I work in the streaming industry, and offering the same "background noise" quality is something that still eludes us. I personally believe that as soon as you introduce any sort of possibility of explicit input from the user (skip, pause), or even implicit (by the way, all of this is also available on demand in our catalogue) the experience is tainted. Subconsciously we know that we are needlessly watching something we should be tailoring ourselves.

The power of the linear channels is that they are so severely limited. Streaming services has long tauted that they are superior because they aren't. Tough problem.

Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#346

Post by dba7dba »

Someone told me a conversation he happened to overhear in a restaurant in LA. This was like 10+ years ago. He was having lunch at a restaurant and next to him were 2 gentlemen working in the TV industry. The conversation was about how the TV station/channel decided to increase ad time and this forced them to re-edit all TV shows to be shorter.

One negative aspect of netflix is that my kids just endlessly scroll through show after show, but doesn't actually watch it. And when they do, they rarely finish it (meaning really enjoy or get into the show). It's like when you don't really enjoy food when you have too much of it easily accessible.

So this new year, I'm even cutting netflix streaming service. Will see how that goes.

Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#347

Post by coldtea »

nostrademons wrote: post #51
neals wrote: post #5

I accidentally watched some TV the other day. Having not seen any regular programming for at least a year, I was amazed at how much ... dumber it has become. Also, why did we sit through so many commercials for so long? It feel a little like a twilight zone episode, where we sit there watching a box telling us what to buy.

I suspect regular programming isn't getting dumber, the alternatives are just getting smarter. When I look at the crap I watched as a kid in the 80s (which included a good amount of 70s reruns), basically all broadcast TV today is far superior. But the competition for broadcast TV isn't "no competition" now, it's the Internet, and computer games, and Netflix. The entertainment industry has been blown wide open by the…

>When I look at the crap I watched as a kid in the 80s (which included a good amount of 70s reruns), basically all broadcast TV today is far superior.

Depends. Talk shows in the 70s (Dick Cavett and such) were far better than the BS today (from Fallon and Kimmel to Letterman). M.A.S.H would stand up there with anything today. And the original talent on something like the Ed Sullivan show or the Soul Train or Johny Cash show. Or the Groucho Marx game show I've been watching on YouTube (all the above were beyond my time, and I've only caught MASH on re-runs).

Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#348

Post by rayalez »

hristov wrote: post #4

Sounds great but the sad reality is that Netflix shows have commercials inside of them. I was really excited about this netflix show "love" until the macdonalds product placement inside of it just made me sick and i stopped watching it. I haven't been watching much original netflix shows since then, but whenever i feel like peeking into a new show i notice product placements pretty soon.

Great show, in my opinion, loved it, if they make some extra money through product placement - good for them, I don't really care.

And then some shows really get the product placement right:

http://i.imgur.com/2Mc7YlO.jpg

Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#349

Post by coldtea »

telekid wrote: post #190
labster wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, the commercials are the best part of watching The Big Bang Theory . Much better to spend a few minutes imagining how cool I would be if I just owned Product X rather than see a nerd minstrel show with an annoying laugh track.

…really? "Nerd minstrel show?" Ah yes, we poor nerds, overcoming centuries of repressive awkwardness and desk jobs.

As if a group can complain against discrimination only if their pain is as big as another groups?

BBT as a minstrel show -- which is a way of mocking another group -- is an apt simile, regardless of whether blacks suffered worse fate or not.

Which is not even relevant anyway: what blacks suffered had little to do with minstrel shows, those were the least of their troubles. If parent had compared BBT to slavery, you'd have a point. But he made a much more precise argument.

Re: Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year

#350

Post by Reedx »

eloisant wrote: post #204
hyperbovine wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a shitload of product placement in Netflix and (particularly) Amazon original content. They're still telling you what to buy, you just don't notice it as much.

I still prefer to watch Frank Underwood telling me how good Monument Valley is than having my show stop and sit in front of old fashioned ads.

Although that example wasn't actually an ad. It was the writer's idea to put that in.

Details: https://www.polygon.com/2015/3/13/8210581/monument-valley-ho...

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