# How do you Americans put up with this crap.



## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

As most of you know, I'm from the UK. In the UK we have commercials just like you do on our TVs, but the biggest difference is that our commercials are well spaced apart. In some cases twenty minutes apart or at least it was when I was there last (five and a half years ago). Over here, your commercials are every five minutes when the movie you are watching is a big and popular one. Or a show like House is on. Doesn't this drive you to distraction? 

In the last two years I've completely stopped watching American TV, not because it isn't any good, on the contrary I love shows like "Bones" and "Lie to me" "House" and "Lost" but I simply cannot deal with these Ads, it makes the watching of any of your good TV unbearable.

Instead, I wait for the seasons or a movie to come out onto DVD. So how do you deal with it all? Have you just accepted the way it is, or would you like to see it change?

Carl


----------



## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

DVR.


----------



## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Record. Fast forward.


----------



## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Tivo...  

Edit: Don't watch much television anyway but I don't remember the last commercial I watched. LOL


----------



## MegHarris (Mar 4, 2010)

I often order shows off Amazon the next day.


----------



## Terrence OBrien (Oct 21, 2010)

DVR...click...click


----------



## Jud (Jun 22, 2010)

I suppose we acclimated to it by now.  It's been that way for years.


----------



## anne_holly (Jun 5, 2011)

I don't have television - cleared the problem right up!


----------



## Sarah Fawkes (Jun 23, 2011)

DVR and fast forward here too. 

What's this have to do about writing though?


----------



## Budo von Stahl (Aug 31, 2010)

I remember when, many, many moons ago, they tried promoting the (golden rain) out of subscription TV (cable) as having no commercials.  What was the first thing they broadcast?  Yup; a real 'gotcha sucker' deal.  I didn't own a TV then and I still don't, that's how I put up with it.


----------



## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

DVDs. I'm not home much when shows are on so I rent seasons from Netflix.


----------



## Holly A Hook (Sep 19, 2010)

I cope by not watching television.  I have a TV, but it's only used for movies and video games, and only when I have people over.  I don't have time to watch TV, anyway.

But yes, the commercials are very annoying.


----------



## daringnovelist (Apr 3, 2010)

First of all, I don't have cable.  I watch TV entirely on Hulu -- which has slightly fewer ads than they used to have when TV ads were regulated. (It used to be two minutes out of every fifteen -- Hulu is about one minute.)

I also watch some shows as podcasts.  Otherwise, like others here, I watch on DVD.  Or I watch old TV shows.  Very old ones.

Camille


----------



## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Carl246 said:


> As most of you know, I'm from the UK. In the UK we have commercials just like you do on our TVs, but the biggest difference is that our commercials are well spaced apart. In some cases twenty minutes apart or at least it was when I was there last (five and a half years ago). Over here, your commercials are every five minutes when the movie you are watching is a big and popular one. Or a show like House is on. Doesn't this drive you to distraction?


Yes, it does. Unfortunately I don't think they're likely to stop on my account.


----------



## Budo von Stahl (Aug 31, 2010)

OK, I do need to backpedal on that last post.  I should have said 'didn't watch'; like Holly, I do have one for the kids' movies and games.  Hard to think of it as a TV.


----------



## StaceyHH (Sep 13, 2010)

hulu, netflix, etc.


----------



## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

dvd both seasons of "Castle". Working on getting all seasons of "Bones". then it's all back seasons of "NCIS".


----------



## IndiaLeeBooks (Apr 10, 2011)

Television is it's own world in the sense that commercial breaks are the norm and those who write for TV write around it.  With many shows, it's become a creative element to work with - so much so that when the shows are released on DVD, it cuts to black in order to preserve the use of a commercial break as punctuation within the storyline.

As for movies that get put on TV, commercials are a much more intrusive situation but it also comes with the notion that by the time it makes it to TV - most people have already seen it so what does it matter? Of course, many viewers still find it a bother which I totally understand.


----------



## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

I do the DVD series thing too -- we still have a little of The Wire to go. We should have been done with it a while ago, but I hate saying goodbye.  

Anyhow, if a series gets good reviews and seems like my thing I'll take the leap and just go ahead and get it, sight unseen.


----------



## KindleChickie (Oct 24, 2009)

TIVO, ff thru the commericals and the ones that are repeated enough for me to remember them I will write the companies and explain to them just how annoying it is to see their tampax commerical 8 times in a one hour show.  I then nicely explain to them they have caused me to have a serious aversion to their product it has left such a bad impression on me.


----------



## patrisha w. (Oct 28, 2008)

I have also given up commercial TV for the same reason- the ads.


----------



## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

But if you FF through all the commercials, you miss great ones like this:






"I'm on a horse."

Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!

Vicki


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Not sure how much a difference it makes, but in the US we do not have anything quite like the BBC license fee, so the major broadcast networks here make the vast majority of the money from those annoying advertisements, whereas I believe it's not quite as significant for the BBC. (Most of us in the US do pay cable or satellite service fees these days, but little/none of that goes to actual programming costs, other than paying extra for premium channels -- which generally have little/no commercials.)

Of course, you can watch PBS and avoid most commercials -- assuming it's not one of the weeks they're doing fund-raising (which seems to happen more and more often now  ).


----------



## IndiaLeeBooks (Apr 10, 2011)

Victorine said:


> But if you FF through all the commercials, you miss great ones like this:
> 
> "I'm on a horse."
> 
> ...


Right?!


----------



## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Or these hilarious Geico commercials...






*Snicker*

Vicki


----------



## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Victorine said:


> But if you FF through all the commercials, you miss great ones like this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Not with the internet you don't. 

If there's an interesting commercial or clip from a show, the internet will find it and let you know about it.


----------



## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Commercials give me the opportunity to get up, move around and do other things. 

That being said, I'm looking into Netflix. I know some people who've given up their cable and gone strictly with Netflix.


----------



## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

Does no one else think that this is strange? I mean surely the TV people know what you are doing. Using Tivo and DVR to avoid the Ads and people like me who are not watching it anymore specifically because of the Ads. I'm wondering if such great shows like "Pushing Daisies" are canceled because of the lack of people willing to watch the Ads. Shows like "The Dresden Files" and others that you hear of like "Lie to me" it seems such a loss of good TV.

Carl


----------



## Steve Silkin (Sep 15, 2010)

My friend Dan - who does my cover designs - animated the horse body in this one.


----------



## NapCat (retired) (Jan 17, 2011)

Not only commercials,  but the crawlers during the feature.  Most shows are now really "unwatchable".  There are some channels that I just refuse to watch.
Many Internet site are also very intrusive with unwanted video/sound, "blocking" or "following" banners, etc.  I just leave those sites rather than fight the ads.

Satellite Radio (formerly commercial free) is also ruining their format with loud and horribly abrasive sound clips.

Should the human species survive, history will write the "Age of Consumerism" as a huge folly.


----------



## Lyndl (Apr 2, 2010)

I never watch 'live' TV.  Anything worth watching is recorded and watched at a time suitable to us   All ads are FF'd


----------



## MF Strnad (Jun 21, 2011)

I use my DVR.  Usually because my kids try to talk through all the shows I really want to watch.  Then it's a quick fast forward through the commercials.  On the rare times I do sit through it, if I'm not grabbing a drink or a snack, the commercials don't bother me.  I'm an AF brat, and was subjected to the public announcement "commercials" on base while we were overseas.  After watching an older gentleman sticking his head out of the shower and say "There's no hot water!" in a high pitched voice, I can handle the regular commercials.


----------



## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

NapCat said:


> Not only commercials, but the crawlers during the feature. Most shows are now really "unwatchable". There are some channels that I just refuse to watch.
> Many Internet site are also very intrusive with unwanted video/sound, "blocking" or "following" banners, etc. I just leave those sites rather than fight the ads.
> 
> Satellite (formerly commercial free) is also ruining their format with loud and horribly abrasive sound clips.
> ...


You know, I can't help thinking that we the public have a say in all of this. I believe if enough people were to voice their opinions on a lot of this crap things would change. Of course it won't happen, mainly because we find ways around it and can't be bothered, which in my eyes is a shame. I've noticed they are even starting to place Ads onto DVD's, although to be fair to some of them, like Disney, you do get the choice of passing it all by. TV used to be great and I believe it still could be, but things need to change dramatically to get me back in front of the TV.

Carl


----------



## Not Here (May 23, 2011)

Ditto all the DVR's. It's still an interruption but not as bad. I agree though, it is annoying.


----------



## JeanneM (Mar 21, 2011)

Can someone teach me how to post a youtube video?  I've been trying like crazy but I can't quite get the hang of it.  I get "invalid" a lot.


----------



## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

JeanneM said:


> Can someone teach me how to post a youtube video? I've been trying like crazy but I can't quite get the hang of it. I get "invalid" a lot.


Well, I'm here to tell you, that you're not invalid. lol

Carl


----------



## NapCat (retired) (Jan 17, 2011)

JeanneM said:


> Can someone teach me how to post a youtube video? I've been trying like crazy but I can't quite get the hang of it. I get "invalid" a lot.


Go to your video, highlight and copy the link; return to your post page and left click on the YouTube symbol in the toolbar (all the way on the left) a bracketed phrase will be inserted into your post. [xxx][xxx] Paste the address you have copies in the center of the brackets. Use "preview" to confirm that it has worked.

Good Luck


----------



## JeanneM (Mar 21, 2011)

Carl246 said:


> Well, I'm here to tell you, that you're not invalid. lol
> 
> Carl


LOL..thanks Carl.

Napcat, I keep doing that but it won't come out. Should I be copying the link in the search bar instead of the ones they give you below the video?


----------



## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

TiVo/DVR user here, also. I just skip over the commercials. They aren't advertising anything I need anyway.

Mike


----------



## NapCat (retired) (Jan 17, 2011)

JeanneM said:


> Napcat, I keep doing that but it won't come out. Should I be copying the link in the search bar instead of the ones they give you below the video?


Your link should look like this:

[size=12pt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G5RC-WW3I4


----------



## NapCat (retired) (Jan 17, 2011)

JeanneM said:


> Napcat, I keep doing that but it won't come out. Should I be copying the link in the search bar instead of the ones they give you below the video?


Here are the directions from Harvey in the "TIPS" Board

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,685.0.html#lastPost


----------



## JeanneM (Mar 21, 2011)

One more try:


----------



## JeanneM (Mar 21, 2011)

All that to show Carl a funny commercial.  LOL  

Thank you Napcat.


----------



## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

It's interesting that most of us hate the number of commercials in the shows, but not many have commented on the content of these commercials.  I can't even stand the endless tune of the Cialis commercials.  I don't care if someone has erectile dysfunction, I know more about new  drugs that I'll never need, I want to punch the lights out of both Flo and that fool that does the Geico commercials (why didn't they just stick with the gecko?), and I was endlessly grateful that Cathy Whatshername finally reached menopause.  And don't even get me started on commercials before movies at the theatre.

I just record the 3 or 4 shows I like, and play them back while skipping commercials.


----------



## JimJ (Mar 3, 2009)

Carl246 said:


> Does no one else think that this is strange? I mean surely the TV people know what you are doing. Using Tivo and DVR to avoid the Ads and people like me who are not watching it anymore specifically because of the Ads. I'm wondering if such great shows like "Pushing Daisies" are canceled because of the lack of people willing to watch the Ads. Shows like "The Dresden Files" and others that you hear of like "Lie to me" it seems such a loss of good TV.
> 
> Carl


The main thing they're doing to counteract the DVR thing is ramping up product placement. I think the worst I've seen is on Bones, where they occasionally stop to talk about some awesome feature on Bones's Prius  The Subway product placement on Chuck is a little obnoxious too. I guess the worst would actually be reality shows where companies provide the various prizes, but I don't really mind that as much as I do when it shows up in scripted show. Most of the time I don't have problem if a character is drinking a Coke instead of some generic soda or something like that, but when it's really in your face it annoys me. I don't think shows are getting canceled because of people skipping the ads. If that were the case every show would be canceled.

Anyway, I never watch movies on TV unless they're on a channel that doesn't show commercials and that doesn't censor the film or crop it from it's original aspect ratio. If it wasn't for channels like TCM and HDNet Movies I'd never watch movies on TV. But, as someone else mentioned, TV shows are different because they're written and filmed with the commercial breaks in mind, so it doesn't feel like as big of a distraction as it does when there's a commercial break jammed in the middle of a movie.


----------



## Vegas_Asian (Nov 2, 2008)

DVR and hulu (online tv)

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I think (but cannot prove) that people avoiding watching commercials via various methods has contributed to the preponderance of so-called reality shows. Such shows are much cheaper to produce than a dramatic series, so they can still make a profit even if the advertisers won't pay as much. Also, they are the sort of throw-away entertainment that casual viewers will just turn on as background "noise", hardly noticing when commercials come on and start their subliminal suggesting; and people are possibly less likely to record and then watch such shows with their full concentration, remote in hand with the thumb hovering over the [>>] button.

Or not. (After all, I hardly watch any network TV at all any more. I think "X Files" was the last series I watched regularly, and not even that for the last season or so.)


----------



## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

Geez, now I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't have DVR.  I just relay on OnDemand and websites such as Hulu.  Of course, my TV is still considered "old school" too.  Those are the two things I always said that I would upgrade but my computer got there first.

Tris


----------



## metal134 (Sep 2, 2010)

JimJ said:


> Anyway, I never watch movies on TV unless they're on a channel that doesn't show commercials and that doesn't censor the film or crop it from it's original aspect ratio.


Agreed. I gave up trying to watch movies on television. I get really frustrated. I tried watching "Interview With the Vampire" on TNT once. The stuff they were cutting out was just ridiculous. It didn't just bother me, I actually starting getting angry. Like, I wanted to throw the remote angry. I turned it off and swore that from that point on, I would not watch anything rated above a PG on television. And since I cannot stand family movies, almost nothing I watch is PG. There are some, but not many. Besides that Netflix has fixed that problem for me anyway.


----------



## Alle Meine Entchen (Dec 6, 2009)

When DH and I got married, we made the decision to never be able to afford cable or sat tv (ie, we knew we would watch too much tv, so we chose not to do it).  We now have netflix and we have a program on our computer called PlayOn that allows us to watch netflix, comedy central, pbs, and other channels on our tv thru our ps3 or Wii.  We don't really have to sit thru all the commercials, either.


----------



## PG4003 (Patricia) (Jan 30, 2010)

In all this talk about commercials and how awful they are, I can't believe nobody has mentioned how terrible it is when there are political races going on.  Those commercials are beyond unbearable!

I'm Patricia and I approve this message.


----------



## KindleGirl (Nov 11, 2008)

I watch a lot of shows that we've DVR'd and then fast forward thru the commercials like everyone else, but I rarely, if ever, just watch a tv show...I am always doing something else at the same time. So if I can't FF thru them I just work on my other stuff while they are on. I never remember a commercial when other people mention them, so I am very efficient at blocking them out myself.


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

KindleGirl said:


> I watch a lot of shows that we've DVR'd and then fast forward thru the commercials like everyone else, but I rarely, if ever, just watch a tv show...I am always doing something else at the same time. So if I can't FF thru them I just work on my other stuff while they are on. I never remember a commercial when other people mention them, so I am very efficient at blocking them out myself.


This is probably 90% or more of my TV "watching": it's on, but I'm doing something else (typically on the 'puter), and only paying attention from time to time when something catches my interest.

PS: I don't own a DVR. Maybe if I did, my TV habits would change. Maybe it's a good thing I don't have a DVR.


----------



## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

Selena-Fawkes said:


> DVR and fast forward here too.
> 
> What's this have to do about writing though?


DVR and fast forward for me, too.

Selena, this is the "Not Quite Kindle" board, so the questions/threads are usually unrelated to writing. There are lots of places for writers and their questions/threads on these boards, but this isn't one of them.


----------



## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

BTackitt said:


> dvd both seasons of "Castle". Working on getting all seasons of "Bones". then it's all back seasons of "NCIS".


You've just mentioned my three favorite shows. Aren't they great? (I watch "Grey's Anatomy," too, probably as much to look at Patrick Dempsey and Eric Sloan as for any other reason.  )


----------



## valleycat1 (Mar 15, 2011)

Hmmm - my comment never showed up.

We just have a tv with cable.  So we mute commercials and I keep my Kindle handy for the extended commercial breaks, as well as for the Public Television 'sponsor thanks' that are really also commercials.  I hear that PBS is planning to start running those throughout programs instead of just between.  We rarely watch movies on commercial tv, except for the few that don't interrupt the movie once it starts.


----------



## mom133d (aka Liz) (Nov 25, 2008)

I really like this Walmart ad as well:






"Grandpa's going to look like a baby."

We're also a netflix/Tivo family. But since I'm usually also doing something on my laptop or working a cross-stitch while watching, we don't always fast forward through them.


----------



## drenfrow (Jan 27, 2010)

I DVR everything. I don't even know when shows actually come on anymore because I set them up to tape (whoops, showing my age, I mean record) once and that's it. My husband gets annoyed with me because I'm never up on the current funny commercials. If I am watching something at a friend's house I beg that commercials get muted. I just can't stand them.


----------



## AnnetteL (Jul 14, 2010)

I lived abroad for 3 years, and it was pure delight to have commercials only between shows, not during them. But it was also very obvious where the script had been written for a commercial break.

Since so many people FF through commercials now, a lot of companies are taking to making creative, online stuff, like YouTube videos that are 3 minute-long commercials but fun to watch.

And then there's the product placement, which drives me nuts and reminds me a bit too much of _The Truman Show_ . . .


----------



## julieannfelicity (Jun 28, 2010)

DVR and I would kiss the feet of the person who invented it! I would never watch television again without it.

Watching The Voice is terrible without DVR. You watch one song and 15 minutes of commercials. Then another song and the process repeats itself. Ugh!

I think commercials should be between shows. I noticed that happened when my family lived in an RV for 5 months and all we had was public television (using one of those special converter boxes). We watched a lot of channel 2 and some channel that showed old episodes of 70s and 80s greats (like M*A*S*H and the A Team).


----------



## *Sandy Harper* (Jun 22, 2011)

Don't want movies on TV. Just some comedy or news.

Watch PBS for uninterrupted or record and then watch.


----------



## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

One thing I find annoying on commercial television is sometimes when they show movies, there will be very few commecials in the first half hour, a few more in the next hour, and then the last half hour is more commercials than movies.

That's when the DVR comes in handy.

And yeah, the advertisers are aware of it.  There was a show called Journeyman on a few years ago that was cancelled despite having a large following.  From what I heard, most of the people watching it watched it on DVR, which (depending on how long it was after the original broadcast) didn't count towards the ratings.


----------



## NapCat (retired) (Jan 17, 2011)

JeanneM said:


> All that to show Carl a funny commercial. LOL
> 
> Thank you Napcat.


YEAH !! Great commercial.....similar to "Herding Cats" !!


----------



## kCopeseeley (Mar 15, 2011)

What did we do without Netflix?  We don't have cable or regular TV anymore.  We just watch stuff off the PS3 Netflix viewer.  They have all of Bones.


----------



## patrisha w. (Oct 28, 2008)

PG4003 (Patricia) said:


> In all this talk about commercials and how awful they are, I can't believe nobody has mentioned how terrible it is when there are political races going on. Those commercials are beyond unbearable!
> 
> I'm Patricia and I approve this message.


 I am another Patricia and I also approve of this message!


----------



## patrisha w. (Oct 28, 2008)

Holly A Hook said:


> I cope by not watching television. I have a TV, but it's only used for movies and video games, and only when I have people over. I don't have time to watch TV, anyway.
> 
> But yes, the commercials are very annoying.


 One unexpected Good Thing that came from my nasty attack of gastritis about three months ago is that it broke my TV habit. I was either throwing up or dealing with diarrhea and had no interest in TV for about 10 days. {When I wasn't dealing with pooping or puking, I reread Pride and Prejudice! LOL}

We still have TV because my partner who is housebound watches it a lot. Since I don't care for what he watches-- sports and politics--I take my Kindle into the bedroom and read.


----------



## Mike McIntyre (Jan 19, 2011)

Carl246 said:


> As most of you know, I'm from the UK. In the UK we have commercials just like you do on our TVs, but the biggest difference is that our commercials are well spaced apart. In some cases twenty minutes apart or at least it was when I was there last (five and a half years ago). Over here, your commercials are every five minutes when the movie you are watching is a big and popular one. Or a show like House is on. Doesn't this drive you to distraction?
> 
> In the last two years I've completely stopped watching American TV, not because it isn't any good, on the contrary I love shows like "Bones" and "Lie to me" "House" and "Lost" but I simply cannot deal with these Ads, it makes the watching of any of your good TV unbearable.
> 
> ...


You forgot to mention that in the UK, you pay a TV licensing fee of 145.50 GBP (approx $235) per year per TV. That covers a lot of commercial interruptions.


----------



## 4Katie (Jun 27, 2009)

I never watch any TV live, especially movies. Even if I'm not taping something to watch later, I start watching 15 minutes in so I can watch the whole show without commercials.



> Not only commercials, but the crawlers during the feature.


OMG - I HATE those things! They're getting huge, and they move around... don't those people know I'm trying to watch a show?!? My 'favorites' are the huge ones that tell me what show I'm watching. Gee, thanks.


----------



## deanfromaustralia (Mar 24, 2011)

A similar thing has happened in Australia where commercial breaks have all but destroyed TV watching on free to air and pay TV (cable).

I tend not to watch much TV now and will get tips on good series from the States and go subscribe to them through iTunes or other sources. 

The other huge annoyance down here is the volume differentials between the actual program and the commercials. We have had to routinely turn down the volune on our TV or mute it during ad breaks b/c they deliberately make the commercials louder. It sounds bizarre but I swear it's true.

Here's an interesting one - I've kept a VHS recording of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" I made as a kid when it first screened on Australian TV back in 1984. The number of ads during each break - 4. No more, no less.

Ads blow.


----------



## Carl246 (Apr 10, 2011)

Mike McIntyre said:


> You forgot to mention that in the UK, you pay a TV licensing fee of 145.50 GBP (approx $235) per year per TV. That covers a lot of commercial interruptions.


I didn't really forget, as it only covers two chanels and the rest are all commercial. Except for the cable movie chanels, where you only get Ads between films. It might be just as bad over there now for all I know, but the brits probably wouldn't stand for the kind of Ads you have over here. In the UK we can't go around slagging off other companies such as Verizon and Comcast, it wouldn't be allowed. Also, if you watched an Ad over there that said something like "Take this pill and lose weight," it had better do what the Ad says it does or they'd be in trouble. We have a watch-dog over there that checks commercials for content and accuracy. As for the amount of Ads between programs, if they were as bad as they are here you'd probably hear about it on the news. We don't handle crap well. lol

Carl


----------



## metal134 (Sep 2, 2010)

Mike McIntyre said:


> You forgot to mention that in the UK, you pay a TV licensing fee of 145.50 GBP (approx $235) per year per TV. That covers a lot of commercial interruptions.


I would GLADLY pay that to limit commercials.


----------



## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

I have a monthly cable bill and still get commercials.  I use dvr, but I'm paying additional $13 a month (plus tax) for that.  I really should cancel Time Warner and buy my phone and internet service from Verizon.


----------



## Scheherazade (Apr 11, 2009)

What's worse?  BBC America (which may as well be SciFi now that they show Alien, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and a whole bunch of other mess like James Bond that I can get on US television) cuts down and modifies the shows they claim to bring us from the UK.  I knew that Top Gear was shortened, and now they're showing full episodes... but what they did a couple weeks ago I just can't abide by.

First of all, for all their crowing about bringing us Doctor Who on the same day it airs in the UK, they skip a week for Memorial Day  so now we're a week behind.  But then for the finale, they actually SPED up the show in order to fit in more commercials.  The finale was apparently a bit longer than a normal episode in the UK, so BBC America literally sped up scenes to make it fit.  I didn't bother watching it that way because I was already finding alternatives so I didn't have to wait the extra week, but I heard that if they sped it up anymore it would have been as bad as an episode of Alvin and the Chipmunks.  And they wonder why ratings are down in the US... probably because everyone is downloading it.

And we -still- don't have legislation that punishes these channels for cranking up the volume on commercials, or if we do nobody enforces it.  This is why I love my Tivo.  It's very rare I'll watch anything on live TV anymore.  If there is something on I want to watch I'll just start recording it, watch something else already recorded, then come back to it.  Commercials are just getting worse and worse.


----------



## bluetiger1941 (Mar 20, 2011)

American football is particularly bad with commercials - so many "tv timeouts" that the games go on forever. It's actually worse when you're at the game with so many breaks in the action. I like the way the Europeans do with their football - just show some signs along the sideline.


----------



## fuschiahedgehog (Feb 23, 2010)

Tris said:


> Geez, now I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't have DVR. I just relay on OnDemand and websites such as Hulu. Of course, my TV is still considered "old school" too. Those are the two things I always said that I would upgrade but my computer got there first.
> 
> Tris


We have a DVR but I've never used it. The kids use it to save favorite episodes of their shows, or to record a show when we're not home. I've never been to Hulu, and I only use Netflix occasionally (not a wide selection of non-fiction/sci-tech/geek fare). There are a few shows I enjoy on TV, and to be honest I have no problem with the commercials. It's typically 15-20 minutes of a "60 minute" show. Most of them I ignore, and use the frequent breaks to go switch laundry, check on dinner, beat the children, make a phone call, go to the washroom, etc. Occasionally an ad will hold my interest, and I'll go online to get more info about whatever product it is that they're pushing.


----------



## Mike McIntyre (Jan 19, 2011)

bluetiger1941 said:


> American football is particularly bad with commercials - so many "tv timeouts" that the games go on forever.


The DVR is especially useful for football games. You can skip not just the commercials, timeouts and halftime, but all the huddles as well. I can race through a typical 3-hour game in 45 minutes, and not miss a single play. The only football game I watch live is the Super Bowl, when some of the commercials are actually worth watching. That little E-Trade baby slays me.


----------



## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

TiVo, or I read my Kindle while the commercials are on, never watch them.


----------



## Elizabeth Black (Apr 8, 2011)

Another DVR user here. Fast forward. And I have a Blockbuster account. Plus movies on AMC and TCM often show without commercials.


----------



## Casper Parks (May 1, 2011)

If I'm watching TV, rare...  Commercials, I hit mute until they're over.


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

When else am I supposed to a) let the dogs out, b) get a Coke, c) go to the bathroom, d) check my e-mail, or e) let the dogs back in?


----------



## *Sandy Harper* (Jun 22, 2011)

I usually use netflix to watch movies. So no problem there.


----------



## elakkljakldf (May 15, 2011)

I use the commercials for a bathroom break or snacktime! Doesn't bother me since I'm used to it.


----------



## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

I often DVR programs so that I can skip commercials. That said, I, like others here, am a multitasker, and seldom if ever just sit and watch tv. Although I plan to ff through commercials, I often get caught up doing whatever else I'm doing, and the set of commercials is nearly over before I realize that I've neglected to speed through them. Sometimes, I use commercial breaks to walk around a bit, take a bathroom break, complete something small on my "to do" list, or to refresh my water, tea, or other beverage. All in all, commercials don't bother me. My husband, on the other hand, HAS to channel surf. (Sometimes, he does that before the commercials ever start up. I have a difficult time watching tv with him because he channel surf so much.) I'd say that separate tvs contribute to the longetivity of our 37 year marriage. If we had to watch the same tv and the same programs, I'm not sure how long we'd have lasted.


----------



## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

Carl246 said:


> As most of you know, I'm from the UK. In the UK we have commercials just like you do on our TVs, but the biggest difference is that our commercials are well spaced apart. In some cases twenty minutes apart or at least it was when I was there last (five and a half years ago). Over here, your commercials are every five minutes when the movie you are watching is a big and popular one. Or a show like House is on. Doesn't this drive you to distraction?
> 
> In the last two years I've completely stopped watching American TV, not because it isn't any good, on the contrary I love shows like "Bones" and "Lie to me" "House" and "Lost" but I simply cannot deal with these Ads, it makes the watching of any of your good TV unbearable.
> 
> ...


TV stations have to pay the bills somehow.


----------



## cork_dork_mom (Mar 24, 2011)

The 25 min of commercials for an hour long show are rediculous. I use commercial time to grab a snack or bathroom break.. put the time to some what of a good use.

What's worse is that the commercials BLARE so loud. Some of the shows we have to turn up to hear the dialog then WHAM! the commercials rattle the windows . Truly hate the change of the volume!


----------



## RiddleMeThis (Sep 15, 2009)

DVR, Netflix, and online here as well. Sometimes I just leave the TV on for background noise and don't even watch it while Im browsing forums an the like and then they just get ignored.


----------



## KindleChickie (Oct 24, 2009)

This morning was the first time my TV has been on in a few months.  I watched the ending of Big Love and then browsed a few days before I got bored and the TV went off.  I love most of the HBO and Showtime series.

I should have gotten into Game of Thrones, but they advertised it too heavily on my other shows and it turned me off.  Same with the one on show time with the drunk father.  I got sick of it before I even had a chance to see an episode.


----------



## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

Another cute one:





I lurve Budweiser commercials.


----------



## Anne Victory (Jul 29, 2010)

4Katie said:


> I never watch any TV live, especially movies. Even if I'm not taping something to watch later, I start watching 15 minutes in so I can watch the whole show without commercials.
> OMG - I HATE those things! They're getting huge, and they move around... don't those people know I'm trying to watch a show?!? My 'favorites' are the huge ones that tell me what show I'm watching. Gee, thanks.


Yeah. It didn't mind them when it was just a small, transparent watermark, usually with the network name. Now they're huge, and they move, and... ugh.


----------



## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Well, American TV is all I have ever known, so I am used to it.  Most people I know have TiVos and DVRs that let them fast-forward through the commercials.  For me, commercials are when you can flip over to other TV shows you want to watch, get a snack, or go to the bathroom.


----------

