In-show advertising (and the regulations regarding it)

[cm3020prob]

Have you guys watch Fox's TV series "Touch"? Just like Tim Kring's "Heroes", scenes are happening in other countries, other languages and off course there's usage of subtitles.

Problem is Global TV simsubbing the show and their auto-programmed annoying snipes.
An image equals a thousand words: http://t.co/Eb66xkMq (Twitter Image)

What is most important here? Telling me that House has new episodes on mondays or the show's translation?

I also PVR'ed the show "Missing" on ABC from the beginning and started to watch it yesterday. First 2 episodes were simulcast from CTV, the 3 remaining ones were from ABC. What a difference!!! CTV even had the guts to completely cover the lower third of the screen to promote the Lotto Max lottery. The WHOLE 1/3 of green !!! That's excessive and abusive.

[Julie123]

Finally I have found the place where I can vent about these annoying "pop-up ads" - as I have begun calling them. I began with an email to Shaw Media which was ignored, a complaint to CRTC was passed off to Ad Standards Council, they acknowledged my complaint and that was the last I heard. I have even emailed some advertisers with some limited success. These ads really annoy and frustrate me and I really wonder how far advertisers and the industry are going to push this envelope - I foresee a time when there is constant advertising on television. Maybe if more people complain we will be taken seriously.

[Dougofthenorth]

RE: "and I really wonder how far advertisers and the industry are going to push this envelope "

They will take it as far as they can even to the point of ruining the whole TV experience.

They will ram advertising down our throats & in our eyes, just as email spam inudates our in-boxes, or pop-ups have filled & ruined the internet landscape and telemarketers hammer our phone lines in the evening.

They are just like greedy little spoiled children pushing the limits, unfortunately mommy & daddy (the gov'ts) are pro-business -at any cost -
so yes it will only get much much worse.

Look how long it took to stop us viewers from being blasted and assaulted by blaring TV commercials ?? - over 30 years.

This is just one more sign that western business dominance is failing worldwide, and as resources are becoming scarcer, Western corporations are in a last ditch effort to grab every last morsel before Asian corporations take their place at the top of the food chain.

The effects on us, the common man are just viewed as insignificant collateral damage.

[Julie123]

Thank you @Dougofthenorth for saying that, couldn't have said it better myself. Impossible to think that TV industry execs would consider taking a financial "haircut" even post-Global Recession. This could have a positive effect (for viewers) on their dependence on advertising bucks, but no way that option is even close to the table. Do they realize they are shooting themselves in the foot? As humans are adaptable we learn to tune out ads in any way possible and they know this. However when we start getting annoyed, as I am now, we tune out completely. I also wrote the Weather Network to say that their "blah, blah, blah is brought to you by blah, blah, blah" ad spots are excessive, now I watch with volume muted. I don't expect them to change anything but at least I have communicated my displeasure.

[Zod]

It's too bad the Canadian versions of Itunes / Xbox Marketplace don't seem to carry the most recent episode of TV seasons in HD. The US versions do.

It almost makes it cheaper to buy season subscriptions to the shows you like to watch (over paying a cable bill). The downside (as always) is the lack of live sports.

You can always buy packages like centre ice, but they're intended for out of region games.

Either way I think the TV/Cable industry is setting themselves up to fail. 20 minutes of commercials per hour isn't enough and now their imbedding ads in the programming. Product placement is one thing, big banner ads is another.

Ad revenue is down so they want carriage fees for all these channels. So we get more commercials and bigger bills. It's a lose/lose. It seems the TV/cable industry doesn't get it. By the time the do, i think it will be too late.

[Wayne]

But using services like a VPN or unblockus you can get access to the US version of iTunes and you can circumvent the "local" blackouts for sports subscriptions, at least I am pretty sure that you can (I hvae unblockus but I don't subscribe to any of these services). Getting a US iTunes prepaid card also allows you to pay for content from the US iTunes service. A prepaid credit card purchased in the US should also work.

[stern_howie]

I cut the cord a year or so ago now, I have OTA recording on my PC, editing out commercials and delivering them to network attached storage for viewing through various media extender devices around the house. I recently started using Netflix and will decide later if I continue or not.

I use VPN to watch geo blocked online content via some of these devices or will just watch at my PC, tablet or phone. I moved the internet as well.

The family is quite happy knowing Rogers or Bell no longer have their hands on the household wallet.

Most of the in program ads for other programs I can tolerate but from time to time one of them will cause me to scold the TV for the intrusion. Are there rules for the amount of screen real estate they can use or for the length of time they appear on screen?

[cm3020prob]

Originally Posted by cm3020prob

I also PVR'ed the show "Missing" on ABC from the beginning and started to watch it yesterday. (...) CTV even had the guts to completely cover the lower third of the screen to promote the Lotto Max lottery. The WHOLE 1/3 of green !!! That's excessive and abusive.

CTV simsubbed the season finale of Missing... Had to see the big Lotto Max snipe 2 times. (censored!).