Bottom of Screen Ads: Annoying or Necessary?

[Janus]

Is it just me, or is anyone else getting a little tired of those ads that pop up at the bottom of the TV screen in the middle of programs? It seems to be more and more a common practice.

My daughter was watching a movie on TV tonight and right during a part of the movie where the characters were speaking in a language that required sub-titles, an ad popped up onto the screen which actually covered up the subtitles so that you couldn't read them!

 

[franznietzsche]

Well, if you didn't change the channel, it must not have been enough of a problem...

This is how executives think. If the annoyance didn't make them lose you as an audience, they got away with it just fine, and it was perfectly ok. And that's all that matters to them. As if they care whether you know what the people were saying.

 

[Evo]

Is it just me, or is anyone else getting a little tired of those ads that pop up at the bottom of the TV screen in the middle of programs? It seems to be more and more a common practice.

My daughter was watching a movie on TV tonight and right during a part of the movie where the characters were speaking in a language that required sub-titles, an ad popped up onto the screen which actually covered up the subtitles so that you couldn't read them!

You mean those annoying ads from cable shows advertising other programs?

Yes, that happens during Iron Chef, and blocks the subtitles.

 

[chroot]

Yet another reason not to watch television.

- Warren

 

[The_Professional]

I didn't noticed it, but then again I haven't been watching TV at all.

 

[Moonbear]

I hate those things, along with the increasingly larger and larger station logos, and currently the map that shows the area of a flood watch three counties over with the scrolling text in case you don't know your counties well enough to read the map (which sometimes is challenging when they don't bother including the rivers/state borders for reference, rendering the map useless).

One of my friends started writing to the stations complaining, and the logos got a big smaller for a while, and then started growing in size again.

Yes, they block the subtitles, and they also just are annoying that they block part of the scene I'm trying to watch.

All the more reason I won't pay for cable or satellite...I don't get those station logos and pop-ups when I watch DVDs.

 

[The_Professional]

DVD's are one of the greatest inventions. Too bad the movie companies are always coming up ways to make you buy more of them when they come out with a Super extra special edition director's supreme delight cut with additional bonus features not seen in the same-dvd movie-that-you bought-previously. I guess, it's better than the alternative; that is suing more people who download movies.

Alright, I'm babbling heh

 

[Danger]

Is it just me, or is anyone else getting a little tired of those ads that pop up at the bottom of the TV screen in the middle of programs?

I don't get those, except for a couple of seconds at a time a couple of times a year when the station is running a contest. The one that really grits my gears is when they shrink the credits into a little window and split-screen it with previews. First, I can't read the damned things, which I like to. Second, I hate previews. I don't want to know what's going to happen before it happens.

 

[Janus]

Well, if you didn't change the channel, it must not have been enough of a problem...

This is how executives think. If the annoyance didn't make them lose you as an audience, they got away with it just fine, and it was perfectly ok. And that's all that matters to them. As if they care whether you know what the people were saying.

As I said it was my daughter that was watching the program not I. But that being said, They do influence how much I watch a station that practices this. After a while I start flipping through the TV guide to see what else is on.

Unfortunately, as far as network executives are concerned, my viewing practices don't count as we are not a Nielson family.

Now if we could just get a few of this fraction of a percent of the viewing audience that network executives base their decisions on to do the same...

 

[brewnog]

Ahhhhhhh I love the BBC.

 

[FredGarvin]

I am so jealous of you guys that get BBC. Even the shows we see here on BBCAmerica are cut down in length for friggin' commercials.

 

[brewnog]

I am so jealous of you guys that get BBC. Even the shows we see here on BBCAmerica are cut down in length for friggin' commercials.

That's rather ironic, and rather unfortunate.

 

[Moonbear]

I am so jealous of you guys that get BBC. Even the shows we see here on BBCAmerica are cut down in length for friggin' commercials.

How much longer do you suppose it will be before the commercials are all that's on TV? We already have hour long infomercials, World's Funniest Commercials type shows, people who watch the SuperBowl just for the commercials, now commercials all during regular shows (I don't get too many of those until later at night; there isn't much room for them on the screen).

I have to agree with Danger about also not liking when they split the screen to run the credits. Why even bother with credits if you're going to make them so small nobody can read them?

The part I object to the most is that the whole principle behind paying for cable TV when it first came out was that because you were paying, you didn't get commercials. Now even when you pay for those channels, they still run commercials, and at the most exhorbitant rates! Fuhgetaboutit!

 

[Andromeda321]

I have to agree with Danger about also not liking when they split the screen to run the credits. Why even bother with credits if you're going to make them so small nobody can read them?

So you don't get sued obviously, else it'd just be a full screen ad.
Now there's a question: how long until they start splitting up the screen to run more than one ad at once during commercials? Hmmmm.

 

[FredGarvin]

The root of all evil is marketing.

The worst part about those funniest commercials type of shows is that they show clips that have already made the rounds on the internet. So not only are they behind the times, the producers are unimaginative copy cats.

All endeavors that start out with no advertising eventually give into the lure of more advertising revenue. That is why I admire the BBC so much. They seem to have figured out a way to do it without commercials.

Brewnog, how often does the rates to watch TV go up for you?

 

[Danger]

So you don't get sued obviously, else it'd just be a full screen ad.

Actually, I know the real answer (jeez, but I hate to give a serious response) from my writing days. Union rules (SAG, WGA, Teamsters, etc.) all demand that their members be recognized by the profit-makers. Apparently they neglected to specify that it must be a noticable acknowledgment.

Now there's a question: how long until they start splitting up the screen to run more than one ad at once during commercials? Hmmmm.

You are frightening me...

 

[chroot]

Advertising suffers an enormous overhead.

I have read, though I have no references at the moment, that the total cost each consumer would have to pay to eliminate advertising of all kinds (TV, print, radio, billboards, fliers, etc.) would be insignificant; only a few pennies a day. This is how much total revenue the entire corporate world expects to convince you to spend per day due solely to their advertisements; if you just gave it directly to the corporate world, they wouldn't need to advertise. A few pennies per day -- kind of sickens you, doesn't it?

Of course, advertising is big business, and puts food on the table for a lot of families -- it's a very significant part of our economy. And yes, people certainly can't buy products they've never heard of, so we couldn't very well do away with ads altogether.

The worst examples are, e.g. Coke and Pepsi. No American is unfamiliar with either of these products. Each spends an enormous amount of money on advertising, mainly to counter the advertising of the other. Thus, flavored sugar water costs a dollar, and a good portion of that money just goes into the pockets of the advertising company's employees. It's really a big waste.

- Warren

 

[Danger]

Of course, advertising is big business

I read a book many years ago, when I was thinking of going into advertising copy writing. I can't remember the name of the author, but he was an industry insider. I think that the title might have been 'How to Advertise'. What got my attention in the first place was the subtitle: 'Making Commercials is Such a Dog-Eat-Dog Business, I'ts No Wonder They Call Them Spots'. It was disturbing and funny at the same time (sort of like Woody Allen).

 

[Janus]

How much longer do you suppose it will be before the commercials are all that's on TV? We already have hour long infomercials, World's Funniest Commercials type shows, people who watch the SuperBowl just for the commercials, now commercials all during regular shows (I don't get too many of those until later at night; there isn't much room for them on the screen).

Yes, its seems like everyday we get closer to the type of world that existed in a story I read once. In it you were barraged 24-7 with ads and you had no choice in the manner. You couldn't even turn off your TV or car radio. (and if you tryed to disable it, a repairman would be there in a jiff to fix it.

Th emain character finally finds a haven from it at a "contraband" boarding house which has managed to keep it all out. As it turns out however, the boarding house is really just a re-programming center.

 

[Evo]

The one that really grits my gears is when they shrink the credits into a little window and split-screen it with previews. First, I can't read the damned things, which I like to. Second, I hate previews. I don't want to know what's going to happen before it happens.

The reason that is done is that they are trying to keep people from changing channels at the end of a show. They have to show the credits, and that is when many people start channel surfing. The idea was that if you could give the people something to watch during the credits, (such as a preview of the next show) that people would be less likely to switch channels out of boredom and carry more viewers over into the next show.

 

[Janus]

Yes, they block the subtitles, and they also just are annoying that they block part of the scene I'm trying to watch.

All the more reason I won't pay for cable or satellite...I don't get those station logos and pop-ups when I watch DVDs.

One of the things the irks me about them is; What purpose do they serve? The ones I see all advertise some show that the same network airs. Now if you normally watch this show, you already know when it airs. If you don't watch this show how likely is it that you are going to say to yourself, " Oh, look, a show I care nothing about airs on Thursday at 8:00, I've got to watch that!"

 

[Danger]

The reason that is done is that they are trying to keep people from changing channels at the end of a show.

I never thought of that. Always figured it was a way to compress their own nonpaying announcements in order to leave more time for paid ads. Regardless of the reason, though, it still irritates the hell out of me. (Hey, that just gave me ammo for the thread about annoying figures of speech. Gotta go.)

 

[franznietzsche]

how likely is it that you are going to say to yourself, " Oh, look, a show I care nothing about airs on Thursday at 8:00, I've got to watch that!"

Apparently quite likely.

 

[Moonbear]

The reason that is done is that they are trying to keep people from changing channels at the end of a show. They have to show the credits, and that is when many people start channel surfing. The idea was that if you could give the people something to watch during the credits, (such as a preview of the next show) that people would be less likely to switch channels out of boredom and carry more viewers over into the next show.

Well, they've got their logic a bit screwy. Trying to counteract channel surfing by putting two things side-by-side that both lead to channel surfing doesn't seem to solve the problem. Though, I have always left the same station on during credits because that's all any of the other stations have on at that time too, and go get myself a snack, or use the bathroom, or whatever other needs I have during that break between shows. All my channel surfing is in the first few minutes of the next show to find out what new show is coming on.

 

[Danger]

or use the bathroom

You don't have a TV in your bathroom?!

All my channel surfing is in the first few minutes of the next show to find out what new show is coming on.

I can't channel surf. If I miss more than 5 or 10 seconds of a show, at any point in the show, it ruins it for me. I don't even watch any of my shows live. I tape everything, even if I'm home when it comes on. Then I watch it later, and zip the ads. That's one good thing about the prevailance of commercials; I can watch 1 hour show in 40 minutes. If somebody phones or something while I'm watching, I just pause it until I can resume uninterrupted.

 

[Moonbear]

You don't have a TV in your bathroom?!

Terribly un-American of me, isn't it?

I can't channel surf. If I miss more than 5 or 10 seconds of a show, at any point in the show, it ruins it for me. I don't even watch any of my shows live. I tape everything, even if I'm home when it comes on. Then I watch it later, and zip the ads. That's one good thing about the prevailance of commercials; I can watch 1 hour show in 40 minutes. If somebody phones or something while I'm watching, I just pause it until I can resume uninterrupted.

I really don't channel surf. If I get bored with a show, I don't want to start watching another halfway through, so that's why most of my TV watching is done while my computer is sitting on my lap...if I start watching a bad show, I web surf!

 

[Danger]

Terribly un-American of me, isn't it?

I should say so! On the bright side, there's probably a camera in there that you're not aware of.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

A little OT but related...

I sat next to a commercial director [ie makes commercials] on one of my flights. He was talking about the morbid fear running through the TV advertising world these days: Apparently TIVO and other technologies coming soon can automatically skip commercials while recording. Now I think this technology could be defeated by the TV industry, and pretty easily perhaps, but like it or not, commercials will be embedded in movies and normal programming as a part of the plot to make up the difference.

Does anyone remember the good ole days when product labels were hidden from view? I guess pretty soon its going to be like the recurring theme in The Truman Show; where the dialog in a movie or program is riddled with advertising plugs.

As for the topic, yes, I hate pop-ups!

 

[Danger]

Apparently TIVO and other technologies coming soon can automatically skip commercials while recording.

This is what some early VCR's did. They could recognize a commercial because of the volume differential, and pause until it was over. (The over-all volume of an ad legally can't be higher than the show, but they use lowered background noise and compression techniques to make it seem louder. The machine could recognize that.) I think that it was probably a Beta thing, since we all know how superior they were. (Even though some of us apparently haven't caught on to how superior Mac's are.)

Does anyone remember the good ole days when product labels were hidden from view?

And it was taboo to mention a competitor's name in an ad.

 

[Nylex]

That is why I admire the BBC so much. They seem to have figured out a way to do it without commercials.

I think (but I'm not sure) that that's because we have to pay for a TV license here and some of that fee goes directly to the BBC. This is what I've heard anyway, but again I'm not certain.

 

[brewnog]

Brewnog, how often does the rates to watch TV go up for you?

It seems like they go up by a bit every few years. The BBC has recently more-than-doubled its number of channels though with the introduction of Freeview Digital Terrestrial tv. It's free, as long as you still pay your normal license fee.

I think (but I'm not sure) that that's because we have to pay for a TV license here and some of that fee goes directly to the BBC.

This is indeed the case. Most of your license fee goes to the BBC.


My favourite thing about TV Licences is that the price for a black & white license is 1/3 of that for a colour licence.

 

[egg]

the best thing about the tv license is that up until a couple of years ago if you were blind you got a whopping £3 off the fee!
bearing in mind the fees over £100 a year that kind of takes the **** a bit!

 

[FredGarvin]

I sat next to a commercial director [ie makes commercials] on one of my flights. He was talking about the morbid fear running through the TV advertising world these days: Apparently TIVO and other technologies coming soon can automatically skip commercials while recording. Now I think this technology could be defeated by the TV industry, and pretty easily perhaps, but like it or not, commercials will be embedded in movies and normal programming as a part of the plot to make up the difference.

You are right on Ivan. Now for the really bad news with that...The big business has *****ed and complained so much because Tivo users (like me) use it to record shows and then fast forward through the commercials. The commercial skip isn't fullproof. It will skip preset lengths of time, so it's a bit hit and miss. I don't use it. It's easier to use the ffwd. So advertising types are pressuring the Tivo people for a new additional technology that will show advertising banners while the Tivo is fast forwarding. Apparently they are going to comply. Ugh! What a crock.

http://www.bigmarv.net/how/tivo30secondskip.html

http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/archives/000723.html

 

[brewnog]

the best thing about the tv license is that up until a couple of years ago if you were blind you got a whopping £3 off the fee!
bearing in mind the fees over £100 a year that kind of takes the **** a bit!

The concession for blind people is a 50% discount. Seems fair to me.

 

[Danger]

advertising types are pressuring the Tivo people for a new additional technology that will show advertising banners while the Tivo is fast forwarding

Of course if they do that, there will instantly be a booming black market for modified chips to prevent it, as there is now for satellite decoders.

 

[egg]

The concession for blind people is a 50% discount. Seems fair to me.

is now, never used to be!

 

[brewnog]

is now, never used to be!

Ah well, at least they sorted it. Welcome egg.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I guess it's somewhat understandable considering that the money advertisers pay to have their comercials played is the majority of any television stations income.

 

[Danger]

I guess it's somewhat understandable considering that the money advertisers pay to have their comercials played is the majority of any television stations income.

As irritating as I find most commercials, at least I can afford to watch TV here. I couldn't in the UK. And occassionally one shows up that's more entertaining (the first few times) than the show that it's sponsoring. Those of you in my age group surely must still giggle when you think of the old Alka Seltzer ads. (Mama mia! That's a some a spiiiicy meat-balls...)

 

[hypnagogue]

This http://www.futurama-madhouse.com.ar/scripts/1acv06.shtml from Futurama says it all. (The setting is in the future, 3000 AD.)

[Scene: Robot Arms Apartments: Fry and Bender's Apartment. Fry is asleep.]

[Fade to: Fry's dream. He is in a packed lecture hall.]

Teacher: Good morning class. I trust you've all prepared for today's final exam.

Fry: Uh, excuse me? I missed a few lectures. What subject is this?

Teacher: Ancient Egytian algerbra.

[She points to the blackboard, revealing it is filled with Egyptian hieroglyphs. Fry gasps.]

Fry: What a nightmare!

Teacher: Mister Fry. Are those your underpants?

[Fry looks down and sees he is only wearing his briefs. He stands up and the whole class laughs and points. Fry gasps.]

Teacher: Young man, I think it's time you learned a lesson about Lightspeed brand briefs.

[She pulls down a poster showing the briefs.]

Voice over: Lightspeed fits today's active lifestyle. Whether you're on the job [Fry is shown at a company meeting wearing just Lightspeeds.], or having fun [Fry is shown with a woman in her underwear.] Lightspeed briefs. Style and comfort for the discriminating crotch.

[Cut to: Fry and Bender's Apartment. The dream ends. Fry wakes up.]

Fry: Oh what a weird dream! I'll never get back to sleep!

[He falls asleep.]

[Scene: Planet Express: Lounge. The crew are sat around a table.]

Fry: So you're telling me they broadcast commercials into people's dreams?

Leela: Of course.

Fry: But, how is that possible?

Farnsworth: It's very simple. The ad gets into your brain just like this liquid gets into this egg. [He holds up an egg and injects it with liquid. The egg explodes.] Although in reality it's not liquid, but gamma radiation.

Fry: That's awful. It's like brainwashing.

Leela: Didn't you have ads in the 20th century?

Fry: Well sure, but not in our dreams. Only on TV and radio. And in magazines. And movies. And at ball games and on buses and milk cartons and t-shirts and written on the sky. But not in dreams. No siree!

 

[Danger]

This http://www.futurama-madhouse.com.ar/scripts/1acv06.shtml from Futurama says it all.

What the hell did you just do to me, man? Is that a Mac-haters' site or something? I clicked on the bloody thing and my whole system locked up. Couldn't even get out with a force-quit. I had to reboot. (In case it wasn't a fault of my system, you might consider posting a warning to Mac users about that...)
I kinda remember that episode, though. It truly impresses me, some of the stuff those writers came up with. I was sorry to see it cancelled.

 

[hypnagogue]

Sorry, Danger. I'm not really familiar with that site, I just pulled it up with a Google search and then linked to it to source my post. However, from what I can see it looks quite kosher (no unnecessary javascript or anything), so I think your crash was just a quirk your system had at the time.

Anyway, here's a pseudo warning for others: you don't need to click the link, I already pasted the funny and relevant part.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

It works okay for me and my IBM clone... I guess this is just another example of Mac superiority.

 

[hypnagogue]

The worst TV pop up I've seen is a pretty frequent one that shows up on G4TechTV. It's a wooden-looking bar at the bottom of the screen that randomly pops up and compresses the actual screen in the process. What makes it really annoying is that the ad for whatever show is 'spraypainted' onto the wooden bar, and they have sound effects for the spraypainting that's significantly louder than the actual show. So it's both a visual and an auditory distraction.

The worst network logo has to be MTV2's. It's about twice the size of the average network logo (or at least it seems that way, it's so big), and it's completely opaque! I conjecture that 20 years from now, almost the entire screen will be filled with MTV2's logo, and the actual programming will be relegated to a tiny box in the upper left hand corner.

Both of these examples are doubly annoying in that you can infer that the advertisers think (know?) they can get away with being more obnoxious with younger viewers. Of course, that only sets the table for today's obnoxious, program-interfering advertising to become the norm eventually, as the next generation learns to put up with even more egrigious offenses.

But in a way, what's worse is that the Science Channel's logo also interferes with their programming sometimes, even though it's not as outright obnoxious. It's one thing to be interrupted while watching a music video or a show about video games that are probably aimed at kids with low attention spans. But the Science Channel has shows about scientific topics, and presumably what matters is the actual information being conveyed. If the SC airs a program that has text running along the bottom of the screen at some points (fairly common), then you won't be able to read the text in the lower right hand portion of the screen, thanks to the network logo. Given the context, that's an even worse offense than the above examples.

 

[Danger]

I think your crash was just a quirk your system had at the time.

Quite possibly. It has a few. Macs process stuff differently, and sometimes a perfectly innocent piece of programming can knock it into a loop. I didn't bother getting 'Virtual PC' because it runs too slowly to be worthwhile.

It works okay for me and my IBM clone... I guess this is just another example of Mac superiority.

Quiet, you. This thing is over 6 years old and seems to keep up to yours.

 

[Moonbear]

It works okay for me and my IBM clone... I guess this is just another example of Mac superiority.

MY Mac didn't have any problems with that.

(Now, if only someone would make a keyboard that didn't have the letters painted on...I have the same problem with both Macs and PCs that when I type, my fingernails hit the keys and scratch off all the letters...only a problem on laptops, where the keyboards are totally flat...at least I can always recognize my own laptop if someone tries to steal it.)

 

[Moonbear]

The worst network logo has to be MTV2's. It's about twice the size of the average network logo (or at least it seems that way, it's so big), and it's completely opaque! I conjecture that 20 years from now, almost the entire screen will be filled with MTV2's logo, and the actual programming will be relegated to a tiny box in the upper left hand corner.

Well, it WAS MTV that started this nonsense. They had their logo down on the bottom of the screen long before anyone else did. I think it started around the time VH1 started gaining popularity since it would otherwise be difficult to identify which music video station you were watching based on just having a music video on the TV. VH1 quickly followed suit, and then all the other moron stations followed as well, even though it serves no purpose. Then the logos started getting bigger, and more opaque.

 

[Danger]

MY Mac didn't have any problems with that.

Wouldn't if you're running Jaguar. I'm on OS9.

 

[Moonbear]

MY Mac didn't have any problems with that.
Wouldn't if you're running Jaguar. I'm on OS9.

Geez, don't you think it's time to upgrade? How can you possibly be bragging about Mac superiority on OS 9? Egad! When I was still using OS 9, I was very much a PC supporter (do you know how many times I had to restart the computer in a day?)! It wasn't until OSX came out that I became a convert. You should still be able to upgrade even a 6 yr old Mac to OS X. I've done it in our lab with some of the early iMacs (the smoke colored ones, not the grape, blueberry, strawberry ones...what was Apple thinking with those?) They don't run wonderfully, but they manage. I can't say the same for attempts to upgrade the OS on my old PC laptop (well, it's not relevant, I need to open the case and snap cards back into place every time I pick it up...stupid piece of $#!+...but I just didn't know any better when I bought that one; the company manufacturing it has gone out of business).

 

[Danger]

Geez, don't you think it's time to upgrade? How can you possibly be bragging about Mac superiority on OS 9?

It's a 233 mHz G3 w/ 95 meg physical and 140 meg virtual RAM. The only reason I have it is because somebody who upgraded sold it to me for $150. As for the superiority, it runs absolute spirals around the 800mHz Pentium w/ 1g RAM that I have to use at work. (It loads Photoshop 6 in less than 7 seconds, and that's good enough for me.) I can overclock it to 300mHz by moving one jumper, but it's in a confined area and I don't want to overheat it. I do have direct performance comparisons, by the way; I keep my pool league stats on Excel and swap back and forth between home and work. That poor pitiful little PC just can't cut it.