Hehe. I get to be extremist about it because I mostly don't watch any TV. But, if they start jacking with Rockets broadcasts...
Major, So would surfing the web without clicking and reading every ad be considered stealing, too? No, but actively disabling the ads through software programs is a similar scenario. Legal, but from a business point of view, those are customers not worth having. Ads aren't required to be watched, but they are required to be shown. VCRs are one thing because at least the ads are still recorded even though you can skip them. I *believe* (could be wrong) TiVo can or will be able to just totally eliminate them.
TiVo, as well as VCRs which automatically fast advance through commericals, record the commercials along with the programming. The only difference between VCRs and PVRs with regards to commercials is the speed at which one can skip them. Tapes take longer due to the linear way in which they are recorded, while hard disk systems can skip them instantly. In any case, the commercials ARE being shown...when they are broadcast...
Cry me a freakin' river is RIGHT. Thanks, Da! Turner owns one of only 6 major media conglomerates in the world and he's pissed at ad revenues? He can just collect money from AOL, HBO, Cinemax, New Line Cinema or any of the other bazillion companies Time/Warner own significant interest in. Boo hoo.
Aren't all of Turner's networks(CNN, TNT, TBS) pay channels anyway? If anything, he's stealing our money for showing commercials.
Turner owns one of only 6 major media conglomerates in the world and he's pissed at ad revenues? What does size have anything to do with it? Bigger company also means bigger expenses. It amazes me how many people get pissed that monster companies like TW/AOL try to make money, then get pissed when they lay people off if they don't make money. Should companies such as TW not try to make money for the people who invest in them and risked their money in them? Would we prefer they don't invest in developing things like cable modem infrastructure and making the internet easily accessible for the less computer-literate?
Damn....I have been a thief for years because I mute my TV or change the channel during every commercial break. Who knew?
Ted Turner wasn't the one interviewed. It was Jamie Kellner, CEO of AOL Time Warner's TV networks (The WB, TBS, TNT, CNN, HBO, Cartoon Network) Since the merger with AOL Ted Turner is no longer involved with operations at these networks.
I agree with Major. I'm constantly amazed at the quality of stuff we get for free on TV and the internet because of advertising. Widespread use of TiVo or similar to eliminate ads will cause a change, and most people won't like it. It will probably be banner adds on the bottom fo your screen all the time. Of course from a purely economic standpoint, advertising is only beneficial to consumers up to a point, after which the cost it adds to goods is detrimental to society and represents an inefficient distribution of resources. .
First, it isn't whether or not they make money. I don't care if they do or not. What is highly irritating is Turner complaining about it. Wah, wah, wah! It is the equivalent of NBA players saying they might have to sell one or two of their cars when there was a lockout going on. It just smacks as silly. I'm not begrudging the guy his chance to make money. My concern is that Turner is one of the main people responsible for the incredible narrowing of the media/entertainment market. This is NOT what congress had in mind when it deregulated cable. Cable prices have increased 4 times since deregulation. We have gone from 50 media companies to SIX. Deregulation was supposed to spur competition. Instead, it did the opposite. We now have capitalism on steroids in this industry and Turner's complaints are extremely hollow when you consider just how many companies he owns and how much of the market he controls. I have no problem with him making money. I do worry when his cable networks refuse to allow 24-hour news channels because they are competition for his CNN. I do worry when he raises the price of cable despite the fact that there are more cable users today than ever before. I do worry when people like him can provide news and entertainment as they see fit without having to answer to the consumer because, if one business fails or struggles, they augment it with another's profits. It doesn't make one iota of a difference to me if Ted Turner becomes the richest man on the planet or finds new and crazy ways to advertise (I'm sure they can just squeeze that picture down even smaller like they do on CNN). What does make a difference to me is the fact that one of the most powerful men in America, a man who received a personal multi-million dollar tax break from congress last year, is blaming US, the consumers, for his advertising losses. That is not only condescending, it is flat out ignorant.
Court Orders ReplayTV Maker to Monitor Viewers Fri, May 3, 2002 06:00 PM PDT LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - A federal magistrate has told the makers of the ReplayTV 4000 digital video recorder to monitor its customers' viewing habits and transmit the information to movie studios and networks that are suing the company. SonicBlue, which makes the ReplayTV 4000, is the target of a lawsuit by several major studios and broadcast networks. They claim the ReplayTV, which lets viewers skip commercials when watching recorded programs and has an Internet connection to allow file sharing with other ReplayTV users, violates copyright protections and infringes on their ability to make money through ad revenue. Central District Court Magistrate Charles Eick ruled Thursday (May 2) that SonicBlue must turn over data on what ReplayTV customers watch and what commercials they skip over. The company plans to fight the ruling. "The headline for us is that we've got a court order for us to start spying on our customers and invade their privacy," SonicBlue chairman and CEO Ken Potashner tells Reuters. ABC, CBS, NBC, Paramount, MGM, Universal and Walt Disney are among the companies pressing the suit. "Essentially, we have a federal judge who has ordered a technology company to redesign its technology in order to spy on its customers," says privacy advocate Cindy Cohn of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "That's troubling on more than one level." If SonicBlue's appeal fails, the company will have 60 days to design new software to collect data on what its customers watch.
