I've seen those on WJBK (FOX 2 Detroit) too, so it's not strictly a canada-only thing... hell, it was even spoofed in a recent episode of Family Guy (Peter's Progress)!

I wonder if one of the biggest issues will be with BBC shows.
Yeah, 2 years ago (season 6 I think) of Spooks on BBC:
If you watched/recorded it during the evening showing, runtime excluding ads was about 46:36. I think it actually ran over the 1 hour timeslot.
The runtime of the post-midnight showing was about 3 minutes shorter, and fit within the 1 hour slot.
Don't know if they did it again the next season.

I've also seen one British show (don't recall the source channel) where the dialogue seemed clipped and jerky to the point of unintelligibility, until I realized that they had sped up the playback. Reducing the playback speed (MythTV audio stretch to the rescue) to about 85% restored the audio so that we could actually understand it...

Just another reason to watch the US network. This is so pathetic... somehow the CRTC allows these pussies to get protected from the big old scary CBS and Fox's of the world, but yet the CRTC can't even enforce a freaking commercial time limit. Get rid of this useless commission.

The only reason there are tv shows is to stop the commercials from running into each other.

It will be cyclical. The networks will start adding in more and more ads and people will start channel surfing more and more, and then one of them will come up with the genius idea to cut ads and start promoting that they're the network with less ads, and then it will start being a competition that way instead.

The only thing I watch live anymore is sports, everything else gets PVR'd. Makes me feel sorry for kids and seniors though, who are likely to see their shows affected most.

CrazyInSane, there are no restrictions on the U.S. networks either. They regulate themselves, as TorontoColin pointed out.

Remember that last fall Fox was testing a "fewer ads at premium price" system during "Fringe" and maybe a few other shows. The market can take care of itself... you don't need the big government to do it.

I just wish that the CRTC would have removed the ad limits as part of a "carrot and stick" strategy though (more Cancon in primetime / less simsubs = unlimited ads). Now they have nothing to negotiate with.

It looks as if the CRTC has dropped all pretence of being an advocate for Canadians and has revealed itself as a defender of corporate broadcasters. Apparently this was put in place two years ago and has just come into force now. The original intent was to provide more income for broadcasters.

In the current economic climate, we probably won't see much difference but once a recovery gets under way, TV will be unwatchable without a PVR or a frontal lobotomy.

Hulu only works from the States I think - just tried and it says it only streams from US addresses.

I just wish that the CRTC would have removed the ad limits as part of a "carrot and stick" strategy though (more Cancon in primetime / less simsubs = unlimited ads). Now they have nothing to negotiate with.
Exactly. I understand that the US nets might get unlimited ads but their private networks aren't at the same time unfairly protected by a long-irrelevant government mandate.

Hulu only works from the States I think - just tried and it says it only streams from US addresses.
You can get around the IP blocking with proxy software. Hotspot Shield is a popular program, but the last time I tried using it there seemed to be some difficulties. I used to be able to watch Hulu no problem.

On this note, I hate how some websites think they can "decide" that you want to visit a Canadian version of their website when you actually type ".com" and not ".ca". Everytime I go to Google.com, it redirects me to Google Canada. Same with many other websites, the worst being Comedy Central directing to Comedy Network (though I think there's some sort of deal with Viacom/CTV going on there). Let me decide which version I want to surt, dammit! I hate IP redirecting, it's basically like modern simsubbing. Though I wish there was proxy software for TV, ha :)

It looks as if the CRTC has dropped all pretence of being an advocate for Canadians and has revealed itself as a defender of corporate broadcasters. Apparently this was put in place two years ago and has just come into force now. The original intent was to provide more income for broadcasters.

In the current economic climate, we probably won't see much difference but once a recovery gets under way, TV will be unwatchable without a PVR or a frontal lobotomy.
Yes, it is a very sad state of affairs. If it weren't for my crystal clear HD channels and my ability to avoid simsubbing, I'd find no need for television — Internet is working increasingly fine as a replacement.

Sorry , but I'm bringing this thread back to life !

I'm sure the commercial breaks HAVE become longer.Some breaks are four minutes long.(I have not timed them exactly,just watched the time on the PVR).I'm now recording most programs I like,and watching them the next day.

Next time I bored,I'm getting a stop watch out...:rolleyes:

If a US show is cut down to allow more Canadian ad time, then the content is not the same. So, does this effect simsub? Would it force Canadian viewers near the border to go to OTA?

I've already seen this, weeks ago, on a SPIKE broadcast of a Star Trek with extra bits cut out.

The broadcasters can simsub if they broadcast A PERCENTAGE (I believe 95%) of the original content.

om" and not ".ca". Everytime I go to Google.com, it redirects me to Google Canada

to bypass google canada type ''www.google.com/ncr''

Sorry , but I'm bringing this thread back to life !

I'm sure the commercial breaks HAVE become longer.Some breaks are four minutes long.(I have not timed them exactly,just watched the time on the PVR).I'm now recording most programs I like,and watching them the next day.

Next time I bored,I'm getting a stop watch out...:rolleyes:
Because of my location, I don't get High Definition Simulcasts. The length of the commercial breaks is insane down south as well. Keep in mind that the rule changes came about initially because US hourlongs run around 42-45 minutes long. The networks, like it or not, were losing potential revenue.

Personaly, I don't see a difference between 4 minutes of Canadian commercials and 4 minutes of US commercials. I skip them, anyway.

You are correct, however, with Canadian simsubs, when you are watching a show in real time, it can get so very annoying to have to see the same 4 commercials every break and in a lot of cases the same commercial twice in the same break. At least for the most part, many of the US shows have a wider variety of comercials so it's not as annoying to have to sit through them.

Next time I bored,I'm getting a stop watch out...
I use the 30 second skip on a PVR. That makes it very easy to time commercial breaks and, yes, they are getting longer. US network shows are among the worst for lengthy commercial breaks. Canadian HD simsubs generally have exactly the same breaks as US stations since they often use a direct US network feed. Some Canadian specialty networks, such as TSN, add extra commercials over live broadcasts. That's something I detest when it cuts into live play.

Hi all...my 1st post! With the ruling from the CRTC in regard to unlimited commercial time, my question is do the broadcasters have the right to increase the amount of breaks in an hour show or a half hour show? As I knew in the past an hour show was regulated to 4 commercial breaks and a half hour show was 3 commercial breaks.

Hi all...my 1st post! With the ruling from the CRTC in regard to unlimited commercial time, my question is do the broadcasters have the right to increase the amount of breaks in an hour show or a half hour show? As I knew in the past an hour show was regulated to 4 commercial breaks and a half hour show was 3 commercial breaks.
The broadcasters have always had that right. Hourlongs have, as a rule of thumb, 5 breaks. Sometimes they have more (soap operas, daytime talk). The number of commercial breaks is not decided by the broadcaster, but by the production company.

The amount of commercial content was regulated.