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Rikkitic

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#260241 17-Nov-2019 12:37
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Last night, for the first time in a long time, I tried to watch a film on TV2. Normally I don’t watch NZ TV at all, except for the news, and often not even that. 

 

What I noticed from the film was the old trick of stuffing more and more commercial breaks into the broadcast as it neared the end. Fortunately I didn’t really want to see the film, because the avalanche of ceaseless commercials made it completely unwatchable. 

 

In the past I used to record things like this, which is easy to do, and skip past the commercials, but these days I can’t be bothered. There is so much content out there that doesn’t try to annoy me so why waste any effort on this kind of thing?

 

In addition to the many ad-free paid services, there are also many supported by advertising that can be viewed without charge. But even these do not begin to have the volume and frequency of commercials that NZ broadcasters impose on their viewers.  I don’t like ads and I usually avoid them, but I can live with a few at decent intervals if there is something I really want to watch. I stay away from pirated material and I feel that putting up with some ads in exchange for free content is a reasonable transaction. But the volume and frequency of advertising on NZ TV is not reasonable. I am amazed that anyone at all still watches it.

 

I support the efforts to create an add-free public service broadcaster in New Zealand, though I think it is much too little far too late. That horse has already bolted. What I find unfathomable, is that our dinosaur FTA services still seem to think they are operating in the 20th century, with a captive audience and no meaningful competition. I am reminded of a striking scene in the nuclear war film The Day After, in which a woman compulsively makes beds as her husband tries to get her to the shelter. This is classic displacement behaviour, doing something familiar to avoid confronting something too horrible to contemplate. That seems to me a pretty good description of New Zealand broadcasting at this time. Instead of actually trying to move with the times and find ways of surviving in a changing world, our FTA broadcasters seem determined to just keep on doing the same old same old with their heads planted in the sand as their markets dissipate into nothingness. No wonder TV Three is going under. It won’t be long before the others follow.
  





Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

 


 


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rugrat
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  #2355091 17-Nov-2019 13:00
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They gone crazy recently.


 


i watched Bat Women, about 4 add breaks in last 15 minutes.


Some add breaks were only 15 seconds, but I now prefer live TV with longer add breaks but fewer of them.


Even a stop of 15 seconds still interrupts the getting into a program.


I haven’t watched any TVNZ on demand since, sounds like it hasn’t got any better.


I understand they need the adds for revenue, but they need to get the balance right.



Edit:Reread your post, were you watching live TV?

I mainly just watch recorded TV programs which with FF are fine, most movies I stream.



gehenna
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  #2355097 17-Nov-2019 13:33
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Don't forget the shows themselves are only around 40 minutes these days (36 mins without the credits for the first Mandalorian IIRC!) , so given broadcast TV is working to a full or half hourly model, they pad the time with ads.  


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  #2355105 17-Nov-2019 13:51
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The reality is that broadcast TV is a dying medium.  The whole model of broadcasting free-to-air (FTA) for viewers with funding from advertisers is a technology and business model whose time is now past.  Broadcasters such as TVNZ and TV3 cannot adapt because the business model of FTA cannot adapt while they remain as broadcasters.

 

FTA broadcasters have been replaced by narrow-cast services (such as Sky) and internet-based services, all of which required paid subscriptions to use, and viewers are migrating to these services.  The only way FTA broadcasting will survive is that the cost of operations is funded from non-advertising sources.  While I have not watched BBC broadcasts for some time, I understand this is an example of where FTA viewing is headed in NZ.





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Rikkitic

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  #2355108 17-Nov-2019 14:22
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Not sure how Kiwis could be made to accept a compulsory, very expensive TV license fee. Most countries that had something like this have abandoned it. Seems like a step backward to me. 

 

 





Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

 


 


mattwnz
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  #2355109 17-Nov-2019 14:24
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This is why broadcasters hated PVRs like tivos. Apaprently he US Tivo service may start inserting adverts too, which is ironic, considering the whole point of a tivo is to skip ads  !

 

I only watch pre recorded stuff on tivo, or streaming services these days. Not live TV. If I do watch live TV , I will time delay my start time watching, and start recording it, so I can skip the adverts.

 

 

 

 


richms
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  #2355110 17-Nov-2019 14:27
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Because the ads are not targetted, they are not worth that much compared to ads on streaming services.

 

Broadcast TV with ads started out being a thing because there was no way to do it any other way. No DRM to limit it to paying customers, no ability to tailor ads to the actual audiance on that screen vs what they think it will be on average etc.

 

Those problems are solved. Time for free ad supported broadcast TV to die.





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  #2355156 17-Nov-2019 14:57
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I gave up watching movies on TV decades ago...literally. The ads killed the pleasure for me.
There are alternative ways to enjoy movies uninterrupted.
It is also the key reason I gave up Sky TV.
Never a regret.




 

 


 
 
 

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OldGeek
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  #2355202 17-Nov-2019 15:59
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Rikkitic:

 

Not sure how Kiwis could be made to accept a compulsory, very expensive TV license fee. Most countries that had something like this have abandoned it. Seems like a step backward to me. 

 

 

While the BBC is in part funded by a compulsory licence fee, it is also in part funded by the commercial sale of the content it originates.  I agree that a licence fee will never fly here, but that at least provides a funding source that is not under direct Government control.  My comments about the BBC as a model was more about being a broadcaster independent of political interference.





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mattwnz
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  #2355255 17-Nov-2019 19:11
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richms:

 

Because the ads are not targetted, they are not worth that much compared to ads on streaming services.

 

Broadcast TV with ads started out being a thing because there was no way to do it any other way. No DRM to limit it to paying customers, no ability to tailor ads to the actual audiance on that screen vs what they think it will be on average etc.

 

Those problems are solved. Time for free ad supported broadcast TV to die.

 

 

 

 

Yes, although broadcasters should have the demographics for viewers at certain times, and certain channels.

 

 

 

The problem with targeted ads, is what is happening with youtube at the moment, where content creators are now responsible for making sure their videos are not ones that are watched by kids, if they want to make sure they continue to make money from the adverts. If kids are watching them, then kids aren't allowed to be tracked. This is because YT is not allowed to track their usage , like they can with videos made for people over 13. So if a channel created videos of games for example, where a lot of kids under 13 may search for videos of,  then the amount of ad revenue the channel will make is going to drop significantly (Apparently up to 70%) , as the adverts will not able to be targeted, and targeted adverts are worth a lot more. So it will mean a lot of channels on youtube will have to shut down. Kids search for all sorts of content, so it is quite a major change.


mattwnz
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  #2355257 17-Nov-2019 19:12
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Hiamie: I gave up watching movies on TV decades ago...literally. The ads killed the pleasure for me.
There are alternative ways to enjoy movies uninterrupted.
It is also the key reason I gave up Sky TV.
Never a regret.

 

 

 

I had Sty TV when they didn't play adverts on it. Or if there were adverts, they were only played between programs, and not during them. I guess if you have a mysky box you can skip them though.


lookout
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  #2355266 17-Nov-2019 19:33
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I recently had an ad on TVNZ Ondemand use my first name. The actor actually looked at the camera and said “hey [name]”. Kinda spooked me.

Then I checked the TVNZ terms and conditions and they can actually target you by name.

Can’t even remember what the ad was for so it obviously didn’t work, haha.

GSManiac
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  #2355278 17-Nov-2019 20:31
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lookout: I recently had an ad on TVNZ Ondemand use my first name. The actor actually looked at the camera and said “hey [name]”. Kinda spooked me.

Then I checked the TVNZ terms and conditions and they can actually target you by name.

Can’t even remember what the ad was for so it obviously didn’t work, haha.

 

 

 

was it an ad for Skinny mobile as a spoof of The Matrix?

 

i swear the guy used my name and had to replay it a few times to make sure. Never 100% figured it out. 


Hiamie
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  #2355281 17-Nov-2019 20:34
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mattwnz:

I had Sty TV when they didn't play adverts on it. Or if there were adverts, they were only played between programs, and not during them. I guess if you have a mysky box you can skip them though.



Yes I remember that. I even purchased my first sky decoder outright rather than rent it. In those days Sky TV had about 5 channels only, but they were all good, and there was little or no adverts.

Nowadays Sky TV offers dozens of channels but there are still only a handful of worthwhile ones to watch! And sadly, those are full of adverts throughout.

To me, that's a a step backwards not forwards.

No wonder I left Sky TV.




 

 


lookout
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  #2355282 17-Nov-2019 20:36
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GSManiac:

lookout: I recently had an ad on TVNZ Ondemand use my first name. The actor actually looked at the camera and said “hey [name]”. Kinda spooked me.

Then I checked the TVNZ terms and conditions and they can actually target you by name.

Can’t even remember what the ad was for so it obviously didn’t work, haha.


 


was it an ad for Skinny mobile as a spoof of The Matrix?


i swear the guy used my name and had to replay it a few times to make sure. Never 100% figured it out. 



Yeah, that’s the one!

Found this story about it:
https://thespinoff.co.nz/media/11-10-2019/call-me-by-your-name-the-personalised-skinny-ads-freaking-people-out/

Journeyman
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  #2355394 17-Nov-2019 22:53
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OP: what movie was it?


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