When I got a TiVo, my motivation was basically wanting to be able to watch TV shows on my own schedule (whether that has made me smarter or cooler is debatable). Not having to watch commercials was a small reason, but a huge bonus — I paid for the DVR technology, so I felt entitled to control what I watched.
Except having a TiVo isn't synonymous with ad-free TV anymore. Not since they rolled out their innovative but slightly annoying pause menu ads to series 3 and HD TiVos (pause menu ads are when you have TiVo paused, and an ad bar shows up onscreen, like the image at right).
So even though you're still watching commercial-free TV, you haven't escaped from the audience of advertisers, which may irk those who have a TiVo specifically for that purpose. On the other hand, maybe you're just happy to be able to watch your shows whenever you want.
Let me know what you think in the comments below!
McQ by Alexander McQueen
GUESS
Balmain
Unless you want to pay a lot more to watch a show, ads are a part of it.
1Well we were talking about ponying up for a TiVo since the Comcrap DVR sucks, but now that I know that there are pause menu ads I won't be buying one.
2People pause their DVRs because they are leaving their show to do something else. Putting ads up when you KNOW a user isn't there is just insane spend of your marketing dollar, It's just a way to pad income for Tivo. There won't be any real ROI.
I still skip over TV spots, but if something catches my eye, I will rewind to check it out (rare, but it does happen).
3People pause their DVRs because they are leaving their show to do something else. Putting ads up when you KNOW a user isn't there is just insane spend of your marketing dollar, It's just a way to pad income for Tivo. There won't be any real ROI.
I still skip over TV spots, but if something catches my eye, I will rewind to check it out (rare, but it does happen).
4The pause ads are no biggie to me. They are there if you're interested. You don't even notice them when they are not. It's your choice. Plus, like TV Paws said, you pause when you are leaving or distracted by something else.
Plus, some of the ads are useful. For example, if I hear about a new movie from a friend but haven't seen the trailer. Then Tivo has an ad for the movie, I can see the trailer there without having to wait until I see it while fast forwarding through one of my show's commercials. Win-win from my point-of-view.
5AT&T doesn't do anything like this...another reason I'm glad I'm with them
6i've cut my tv viewing down. the content just isn't worth tolerating the obnoxious commercials. there's only one show i watch weekly and when this season is done i'm seriously considering shooting my tv and canceling the cable subscription. i can't take no more ads. i can't stomach them. they actually make me ill. i've stopped going to the movies also because of the opening ads. i try my best to boycott any products that has obnoxious ads. the marketing professional retards need to find another way.
7Why would anyone have a problem with the pause menu ads? Nobody forces you to click through to see the ad. Do you need to see the "pure" frozen screen?
If you don't want the ad - don't click it. Since I am not forced to click the pause ads, they do no harm.
I have had Time Warner DVRs, ATT DVRs, and Dish Netowrk DVRs. Tivo beats all of them! If Tivo can make some extra $$$ selling pause ads - I welcome this, as they might use these funds to continue investing in their superior fetaures and service.
However, I agree with the poster above - that these pause ads are unlikely to have a great return on the advertisers' investment.
8I am fed up with all the advertising to watch TV. How much should it cost to watch a few hours of TV each month? We already pay about $100 to the cable company and most of the stations have commercials. Sometimes, I turn on the TV and switch from channel to channel and see nothing but commercials. I am starting to think a TV is nothing but a device to advertise products nonstop. Then when you are watching a show you like, you get popup junk on the screen to distract you. It is so annoying, I can see why people are not watching as much television these days.
9Also, what about burnin on LCDs?
10Although pause-screen ads are annoying, you have 3 ways to deal with them:
1) Activate quick dismissal of the progress bar (and related ads): while playing, press PAUSE and DOWN to hide the ads, then enter the code “SELECT-PLAY-SELECT-PAUSE-SELECT". You will hear three chimes when the code is accepted. (Repeat to toggle it off.) From now on, both the ads and the progress bar will quickly disappear when you pause.
2) Hide both the pause-screen ads and the progress bar: when paused, press CLEAR.
3) Hide the ads but keep the progress bar: as instructed on the pause screen, simply press the DOWN arrow when paused. TiVo will remember your choice for the rest of that program. This is my favorite approach, as I like the progress bar and don't want it to disappear. You simply retrain your "finger memory" to press PAUSE-DOWN instead of PAUSE. It'll quickly become second nature.
@EvilDorkGirl: LCDs don't exhibit burn-in, so don't worry. Also, not to buy a TiVo because of this one new feature would be akin to cutting off your nose to spite your face. TiVo remains an extremely *reliable* DVR whose powerful features somehow remain ultra-easy to use. Our other (cable-provided) DVR mysteriously *misses* recordings on a regular basis, a *much* bigger heartbreak than being subjected to 2-line ads you can hide with one button press.
11Actually, modern TVs still do exhibit burn-in, whether they're plasmas or LCDs. It's less likely to happen on an LCD than a CRT, but still, it's possible, and I have an LCD monitor that illustrates my point. I work with video equipment for a living.
And it's not cutting off my nose to spite my face if a) I'm incredibly opposed to being fed advertising when I'm paying a premium to avoid advertising, and b) my current DVR works fine. I don't see any sense in paying $300 - $500 more than I need to, especially if it risks the image quality on my brand new TV, barfs out ads, and only provides me with a marginally better UI... and this is a Mac user talking here.
12totally agrree! it's quiet a bug.
13@EvilDorkGirl:
- I had fallen prey to the common misconception that burn-in does not affect LCDs. Thank you for making me learn something new.
- I'm happy that your current DVR works fine. For us and many others, however, the cable company's DVR offering is such a buggy, bare-bones experience that our TiVo is light-years ahead in reliability, usability, and functionality. (My grumpy tale of woe is found by Googling "clunky Rogers PVR", including quotes, and scrolling to post #10.)
- Finally, logic dictates that the new pause ads have little to no effect on burn-in. The progress bar, the various menus (colored differently but each with a white border around the menu title) are displayed *much* longer/more often than the occasional pause ad. If burn-in is a problem, these are its main cause. I understand why some people object to more ads cluttering up the TiVo interface, but let's not use the burn-in straw-man argument. There's enough justification in disapproving of the ads themselves without adding potential burn-in to the argument.
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