# Please help me turn off "interactive advertisment" in tivo



## gamegammy (Jul 2, 2008)

Is there any way to turn off interactive advertisement in tivo? I don't why but this stuff is really annoying me

Here is an example of what I am talking about.


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## dylanemcgregor (Jan 31, 2003)

I'm not completely sure what you mean.

You can't turn off the ad at the end of the program, but you certainly don't have to click on it.


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## gamegammy (Jul 2, 2008)

dylanemcgregor said:


> I'm not completely sure what you mean.
> 
> You can't turn off the ad at the end of the program, but you certainly don't have to click on it.


I don't like the advertisement being displayed at the end of program. I just don't want to see that.


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## moonscape (Jul 3, 2004)

no.

not clicking on it is what i do.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

gamegammy said:


> I don't like the advertisement being displayed at the end of program. I just don't want to see that.


Well, you're just going to have to get used to it. 

The problem I see in the YouTube video is that selecting only takes you to general Tivocast downloads.
IMO, what it should do is take you directly to the Tivocast involved.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

This whoel topic has been beaten to death with hundreds and hundred of posts. Can we please let this thread die a quicker death than the previous thread that lasted months and months.


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

gamegammy said:


> Is there any way to turn off interactive advertisement in tivo? I don't why but this stuff is really annoying me


Just call 877-367-8486 and ask them to cancel your subscription.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

ah30k said:


> This whoel topic has been beaten to death with hundreds and hundred of posts. Can we please let this thread die a quicker death than the previous thread that lasted months and months.


just dont click on it


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## bicker (Nov 9, 2003)

It is important to note that in a public statement this week, the CEO of TiVo made it clear that he sees networks having a hard time in the years to come because of commercial avoidance, and that TiVo stands ready to help deliver advertising to viewers in new ways, to make up for their being able to skip commercials embedded in the programs.

Remember, advertising is what pays for the program to be made and presented. We have benefited greatly over the past years because we were the early adopters and, due to our small numbers, our commercial avoidance was not worthy of concern. As commercial avoidance becomes commonplace, something will have to change. Advertisers aren't going to pay for commercial that no one watches, and networks aren't going to pay for programs if they cannot get revenue from commercials.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

bicker said:


> Advertisers aren't going to pay for commercial that no one watches, and networks aren't going to pay for programs if they cannot get revenue from commercials.


More specifically, if they cannot get revenue period. They're looking for revenue streams besides commercials, for which the writing is on the wall. TiVo is trying (successfully, I hope) to position themselves as a provider of alternate revenue streams. And as long as their schemes make money and don't interfere with my ability to watch the shows, I'm all for it.


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## gastrof (Oct 31, 2003)

How do those ads manifest themselves? Don't get them on my Series 1s, but if I end up getting a Series 3 (TiVo HD) with Lifetime, I'd like to know what to expect.

_(Watching the YouTube video really isn't an option...not with the way my ISP works...  )_


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## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

ah30k said:


> This whoel topic has been beaten to death with hundreds and hundred of posts. Can we please let this thread die a quicker death than the previous thread that lasted months and months.


And yet it keeps resurrecting....


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

bicker said:


> Remember, advertising is what pays for the program to be made and presented. We have benefited greatly over the past years because we were the early adopters and, due to our small numbers, our commercial avoidance was not worthy of concern.


You're really a latecomer if Tivo was your first attempt at commercial avoidance.

I have used multiple VCRs and/or PIP and/or mute for literally decades now, and I'm not
_too_ much of an old geezer.


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

mattack said:


> bicker said:
> 
> 
> > Remember, advertising is what pays for the program to be made and presented. We have benefited greatly over the past years because we were the early adopters and, due to our small numbers, our commercial avoidance was not worthy of concern.
> ...


There's nothing like like making up your own facts when the one's you want don't exist.


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## shady (May 31, 2002)

Why did you click on it if it annoys you?


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

mattack said:


> You're really a latecomer if Tivo was your first attempt at commercial avoidance.
> 
> I have used multiple VCRs and/or PIP and/or mute for literally decades now, and I'm not
> _too_ much of an old geezer.


huh, back in my day I used the Talk to the family or get my butt off the couch mehods.

I think *very* few people would go through the hassle of multiple VCRs just to avoid commercials. For timeshifting sure, but even at that the vast bulk of VCR use was watching rented/bought movies.

the 57 million DVR penetration, with its ease of recording anything with little hassle, forseen for next year is the attention getter nowadays for those spending money on commercials.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

gamegammy said:


> I don't like the advertisement being displayed at the end of program. I just don't want to see that.


I don't understand why people have such a problem with this kind of advertising. You don't have to select and view it if you don't want to.

Scott


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## bicker (Nov 9, 2003)

HerronScott said:


> I don't understand why people have such a problem with this kind of advertising.


Entitlement mentality.


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## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

bicker said:


> Entitlement mentality.


Darned right. 
You would think that people who shell out for a product and then shell out more every month for the privilege of using it would know better than to feel entitled to enjoy it free of advertising crap.


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## bicker (Nov 9, 2003)

Given that they weren't promised "free of advertising" they should know better. It's like paying for the Days Inn and expecting the Ritz. 

And I wouldn't be surprised to learn that some folks in this thread suffer from entitlement mentality.


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

RoyK said:


> Darned right.
> You would think that people who shell out for a product and then shell out more every month for the privilege of using it would know better than to feel entitled to enjoy it free of advertising crap.


But, without this "crap" you just may have to shell out even more.


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## ZombiE (Dec 17, 2005)

bicker said:


> It's like paying for the Days Inn and expecting the Ritz.


Tivo used to be the Ritz. Lately it is really moving into the Days Inn category.
Not much separates it from the other DVR's out there. The marginal gap is closing, and quickly.


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## bicker (Nov 9, 2003)

I can hook you up with some folks who use one of the "other DVR's out there" who will fill your ears with such caustic complaints about how crappy their DVR is that you'll feel the burn. Everyone seems to hate whatever it is that they've got, and everything seems to figure that everything is worse now that it was before. Human nature I suppose. TiVo is as good as it ever was; nothing significant has changed in this realm since the S3 was introduced. Accept that some folks are complaining about the "decline" of just every other DVR, and typically much more vociferously than you're complaining about the TiVo. It's all just rhetoric. Nothing has changed.

Off to vacation for me. Have a good week!


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## restart88 (Mar 9, 2002)

Originally Posted by gamegammy View Post
Is there any way to turn off interactive advertisement in tivo? I don't why but this stuff is really annoying me



scandia101 said:


> Just call 877-367-8486 and ask them to cancel your subscription.


Ok I did that but now my EPG stopped working.


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## slude (Feb 9, 2008)

bicker said:


> Given that they weren't promised "free of advertising" they should know better.


Indeed. What folks _were_ promised was "TV your way." Instead they're receiving "TV our accountant's way".

In the words of TiVo President and CEO Tom Rogers http://www.tivo.com/abouttivo/pressroom/pressreleases/2006/pr2006-03-02.html, "TiVo's promise has always been one of delivering 'TiVo, TV your way'".

Personally I'm not particularly bothered by the methods TiVo currently uses to serve up ads, but they rightly deserve to be ridiculed for promising something in their marketing which they no longer deliver.


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

slude said:


> Indeed. What folks _were_ promised was "TV your way." Instead they're receiving "TV our accountant's way".
> 
> In the words of TiVo President and CEO Tom Rogers http://www.tivo.com/abouttivo/pressroom/pressreleases/2006/pr2006-03-02.html, "TiVo's promise has always been one of delivering 'TiVo, TV your way'".
> 
> Personally I'm not particularly bothered by the methods TiVo currently uses to serve up ads, but they rightly deserve to be ridiculed for promising something in their marketing which they no longer deliver.


My scheduling of recordings and my TV viewing have not been affected at all. I've never looked at an ad that I didn't want to see and I've never had to go out of my way to avoid an ad. As I see it, they couldn't be any more non-intrusive. "TiVo, TV your way" is still just as applicable as it was 10 years ago.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

slude said:


> Indeed. What folks _were_ promised was "TV your way." Instead they're receiving "TV our accountant's way".
> 
> In the words of TiVo President and CEO Tom Rogers http://www.tivo.com/abouttivo/pressroom/pressreleases/2006/pr2006-03-02.html, "TiVo's promise has always been one of delivering 'TiVo, TV your way'".
> 
> Personally I'm not particularly bothered by the methods TiVo currently uses to serve up ads, but they rightly deserve to be ridiculed for promising something in their marketing which they no longer deliver.


uummm, I believe the terms of service made clear that ads are part of the business plan. Clearly the former CEO and now Rogers have indicated that ads are part of TiVo plan since clearly ads are part of the business model that brings you the TV shows in the first place. To act as if they have only made one statement is just ingenuous.

Still - I have many shows to watch when I want, I can still easily FFed the ads, I can pull shows to my PC and burn them or format them for my smartphone. Now I can also download movies and other video content onto my TiVo that doe not play on my cable channels. I can get music videos as well. I can play my own music and photos via TiVo. 
I can even go a bit further then what TiVo could allow and rip my DVDs to mpeg files and copy them onto my TiVo easily. With a open source PyTiVo I can show the movies categorized by the folders on my PC in my now playing list and pick a movie to watch on any TiVo/TV in my house.

That is exactly the way I wanted TV in my house! :up:
The ads on some screens that I can easily ignore - not what I want but so completely outweighed by everything else as to be laughable that people get bent out of shape over ads on the screen.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

scandia101 said:


> My scheduling of recordings and my TV viewing have not been affected at all. I've never looked at an ad that I didn't want to see and I've never had to go out of my way to avoid an ad. As I see it, they couldn't be any more non-intrusive. "TiVo, TV your way" is still just as applicable as it was 10 years ago.


+1

I can't agree more, Tivo has not only continued to live up to its promise of freeing me from the tyranny of networks and their scheduling, allowing me to watch what I want, when I want, but they've continued to add value to their services with features such as dual tuners, cableCARD capable HD units WITH TTG and MRV.

I say win-win for me and Tivo


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

I heard a story on the internet about a guy who had never even heard of TiVo, and then he read an article about how people with TiVos have the option of viewing advertisements and it bothered him so much he committed suicide...


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## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

ZeoTiVo said:


> uummm, I believe the terms of service made clear that ads are part of the business plan. Clearly the former CEO and now Rogers have indicated that ads are part of TiVo plan since clearly ads are part of the business model that brings you the TV shows in the first place. To act as if they have only made one statement is just ingenuous.


The fact that ads are part of TiVo's business plan isn't in the least relevant to whether they cheapen the experience and investment of the purchaser. Many of us believe they do. Bad business plan. But then TiVo isn't exactly world renowned for the success of it's business plans is it?



ZeoTiVo said:


> Still - I have many shows to watch when I want, I can still easily FFed the ads, I can pull shows to my PC and burn them or format them for my smartphone. Now I can also download movies and other video content onto my TiVo that doe not play on my cable channels. I can get music videos as well. I can play my own music and photos via TiVo.
> I can even go a bit further then what TiVo could allow and rip my DVDs to mpeg files and copy them onto my TiVo easily. With a open source PyTiVo I can show the movies categorized by the folders on my PC in my now playing list and pick a movie to watch on any TiVo/TV in my house.


Yup. That's what we're paying for.



ZeoTiVo said:


> That is exactly the way I wanted TV in my house! :up:
> The ads on some screens that I can easily ignore - not what I want but so completely outweighed by everything else as to be laughable that people get bent out of shape over ads on the screen.


You're lucky you can ignore them. To us they are the zits on TiVo's face.


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## bicker (Nov 9, 2003)

slude said:


> Indeed. What folks _were_ promised was "TV your way."


A sentence that some people have chosen to interpret in a manner inconsistent with reason, IMHO.



scandia101 said:


> My scheduling of recordings and my TV viewing have not been affected at all. I've never looked at an ad that I didn't want to see and I've never had to go out of my way to avoid an ad. As I see it, they couldn't be any more non-intrusive. "TiVo, TV your way" is still just as applicable as it was 10 years ago.


Absolutely.


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## restart88 (Mar 9, 2002)

dianebrat said:


> +1
> 
> I can't agree more, Tivo has not only continued to live up to its promise of freeing me from the tyranny of networks and their scheduling, allowing me to watch what I want, when I want, but they've continued to add value to their services with features such as dual tuners, cableCARD capable HD units WITH TTG and MRV.
> 
> I say win-win for me and Tivo


For me it wasn't Tivo at all that got me started but Ultimate TV and before that the original Dishplayer. In fact my sister is still using her UTV. Mine just stopped working one day which is why I bought a R10, which was my 1st Tivo product. Remember the old John Madden commercials for UTV? Before he was a Tivo guy, I mean. 

I considered Dishplayer an UTV with the bugs intact.  But when it worked it was great! In fact if memory serves it had a screen that had 6 user selectable channels and you could move the cursor over to one to get the audio and if you wanted full screen just click & you're there. This was better than today's Dish channel 100 or Direct TV's version because YOU decided which 6 channels to include. I've long been waiting the return of this cool feature!

Ironically both models also included MSN web TV but the darned thing was pretty worthless until right about the time the units were discontinued. Apparently it took them that long to get the bugs out and at least have some usefulness besides email.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

RoyK said:


> The fact that ads are part of TiVo's business plan isn't in the least relevant to whether they cheapen the experience and investment of the purchaser. Many of us believe they do. Bad business plan. But then TiVo isn't exactly world renowned for the success of it's business plans is it?
> Yup. That's what we're paying for.


see that to me is the oddest thing.
I bought a series 2 before HMO came out. Did not know HMO was coming out. I was buying a DVR that would record shows for me to watch later as I was missing shows I wanted to watch.
Then HMO came out and I pondered over paying for it or not as it cost extra. Well that pay for extra experiment failed, so TiVo changed up and included TiVo desktop for free as part of any subscribed TiVo. I bought Lifetime n the first box so that was added value for no money. I then bought a second DVR and subbed it at 6.95 a month. Now I had 2 DVRs, one for prime time and one for kids and could copy shows between them to watch on either one or to my PC to watch on my smartphone.
I have shown my photos countless times on the TV for visiting relatives. Played my music over the TVs for parties - now it is Rhapsody and guests can easily pick just about any song they can think of.
Now I can make my own PC full of shows, some from cable, some from the web, some from DVDs and they can be played on any TV in the house. Again - anyone can easily do this, the PC simply has to be turned on.
now I canalso push shows to the TiVo. I have my netflix queue on my TiVo dream - 3 movies, watch and delete one and the next movie pops along. Some manual work involved but still way more than I Thought I was getting when I bought my first TiVo.

I still pay only 6.95 a month for that second TiVo - but now it has dual tuners instead of the single as I could buy a new DVR and move the subscription over to it.
There is a DISTINCT increase in value from my TiVo DVRs and they have become the cornerstone of my media entertainment in my house. The transition to HD is happening for me this year which is where I planne it all along as i wanted more HD available and not pay early adopter prices. TiVo is right there as well and I can still do the copy between DVRs and pull video on to DVR I want.

Did ads play any part in that value? Nope.
Did ads get in the way of any of that? Nope.

Has TiVo survived, despite all the death watches and competing against ads saying our DVR is included in the service? Yep.
Is TiVo talking about turning profitable this year? Yep - and ads played a part in that.

so sure _you_ do not like ads, they annoy the heck out of _you_. But to focus only on the ads and say ads have cheapened TiVo inc. is to ignore all the above which are facts and thus not to be ignored.


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## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

ZeoTiVo said:


> see that to me is the oddest thing.
> I bought a series 2 before HMO came out. ... Some manual work involved but still way more than I Thought I was getting when I bought my first TiVo.
> 
> I still pay only 6.95 a month for that second TiVo - but now it has dual tuners instead of the single as I could buy a new DVR and move the subscription over to it.
> ...


Not at all. As I replied above. TiVo DOES have all those wonderful features. I didn't expect when I bought mine and signed up that it would stand still. Doing that would be suicide in the face of the growing competition. However as you state above ads played no part in that value.

So why do you keep bringing up the fact that TiVo does lots of good stuff when the debate is whether ads are or are not objectionable and cheapen the experience from what it could/should be -- NOT whether TiVo as a whole is a great thing? What you seem to be saying is TiVo does a lot of good stuff so we should just overlook the negatives.


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

RoyK said:


> TiVo does a lot of good stuff so we should just overlook the negatives.


+1


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## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

Slick job of taking something out of context. You have a future as a politician.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

RoyK said:


> So why do you keep bringing up the fact that TiVo does lots of good stuff


becasue you said and I replied to


RoyK said:


> Bad business plan. But then TiVo isn't exactly world renowned for the success of it's business plans is it?
> Yup. That's what we're paying for.





RoyK said:


> when the debate is whether ads are or are not objectionable and cheapen the experience from what it could/should be -- NOT whether TiVo as a whole is a great thing? What you seem to be saying is TiVo does a lot of good stuff so we should just overlook the negatives.


I am saying that the ads are not objectionable , given the business plan TiVo has created aroound them of being unobtrusive on the interface. I am saying they help pay to bring us the good stuff and as a part of the business plan to get TiVo to a profitable point they are small potatoes and I do not understand those that get so worked up about them.


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## rodalpho (Sep 12, 2006)

I find ads _deeply_ offensive and intrusive on a subscription service like TiVo. Essentially we're paying to be advertised to, which is anathema to me. Obviously they aren't bad at all compared to traditional interstitial advertisements, but still incredibly offensive. If a competitor came along that offered comparable utility without the ads, I would certainly switch. I've been a TiVo subscriber since 1999, so I've been waiting for that for a _loooooong_ time now, and I'm not holding my breath.


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## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

ZeoTiVo said:


> becasue you said and I replied to
> 
> I am saying that the ads are not objectionable , given the business plan TiVo has created aroound them of being unobtrusive on the interface. I am saying they help pay to bring us the good stuff and as a part of the business plan to get TiVo to a profitable point they are small potatoes and I do not understand those that get so worked up about them.


And I am saying that the ads are objectionable and TiVo's stated intent is to bring us more and more of them.

BTW I wish you would make up your mind - above you said "Did ads play any part in that value? Nope."


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## GoHokies! (Sep 21, 2005)

rodalpho said:


> I find ads _deeply_ offensive and intrusive on a subscription service like TiVo. Essentially we're paying to be advertised to, which is anathema to me. Obviously they aren't bad at all compared to traditional interstitial advertisements, but still incredibly offensive. If a competitor came along that offered comparable utility without the ads, I would certainly switch. I've been a TiVo subscriber since 1999, so I've been waiting for that for a _loooooong_ time now, and I'm not holding my breath.


As opposed to cable TV, magazines, the internet, newspapers and satellite radio, all of which "force" you to pay to be advertised to.


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## rodalpho (Sep 12, 2006)

I have TiVo for TV, get all my magazines for free, run an adblocker for the web, and live in manhattan so I don't have a car and don't listen to the radio. You got me on newspapers, I guess, but I mostly read them online. I distance myself from advertising as much as possible.


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## timr_42 (Oct 14, 2001)

Rob Helmerichs said:


> I heard a story on the internet about a guy who had never even heard of TiVo, and then he read an article about how people with TiVos have the option of viewing advertisements and it bothered him so much he committed suicide...


Tivo is evil! Think of the children!!!!


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

rodalpho said:


> If a competitor came along that offered comparable utility without the ads, I would certainly switch. I've been a TiVo subscriber since 1999, so I've been waiting for that for a _loooooong_ time now, and I'm not holding my breath.


Well, AFAIK, no one has come out with a comparable stand alone product as versatile as a Tivo, and when they do, I'll bet they will be a LOT more expensive.


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## restart88 (Mar 9, 2002)

However, a lot of folks will be just fine with something that just records. I still have a DVD burner that has a RAM disk that probably will work with the converter box. More will be just fine with with a DBS or cable DVR with EPG and some search features. Not everybody wants or needs all the Tivo box features. In fact I remember more than a few posts suggesting they remove an update and return to a more stable software version after update bugs.


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## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

GoHokies! said:


> As opposed to cable TV, magazines, the internet, newspapers and satellite radio, all of which "force" you to pay to be advertised to.


Tried the "everybody else is doing it" argument on my mom when I was 13. Didn't work then and it doesn't work now.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

Getting back to actually answering the OPs question instead of flaming him...

I'm guessing that getting rid of the network connection and using a phone line would get rid of a LOT of them.

The only other option would be to 'downgrade' to a series 1. To my knowledge they are ad free.


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

Adam1115 said:


> Getting back to actually answering the OPs question instead of flaming him...
> 
> I'm guessing that getting rid of the network connection and using a phone line would get rid of a LOT of them.
> 
> The only other option would be to 'downgrade' to a series 1. To my knowledge they are ad free.


Not when all of the the ads are part of the teleworld recordings.


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## samo (Oct 7, 1999)

scandia101 said:


> Not when all of the the ads are part of the teleworld recordings.


You can schedule "keep 1" manual recording for the time slot teleword is on and that will prevent ads download. Flip side is that your guide will be downloaded via phone line with increased probability of corrupted data during relatively long phone call.


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## Fixer (Mar 29, 2005)

GoHokies! said:


> As opposed to cable TV, magazines, the internet, newspapers and satellite radio, all of which "force" you to pay to be advertised to.


Again, another person who doesn't have a clue as to how those business models work.  The model that TiVo should be emulating is the iPod/iTunes model. In other words, hardware with matching service with no extra "crap" for customers to thumb through on the hardware. Is this concept too difficult for TiVo to grasp?? 

FYI: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5909868#post5909868

BTW, Hi Zeo!! _*waves*_ 

___


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## restart88 (Mar 9, 2002)

Wouldn't that be a VCR?


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

RoyK said:


> And I am saying that the ads are objectionable and TiVo's stated intent is to bring us more and more of them.
> 
> BTW I wish you would make up your mind - above you said "Did ads play any part in that value? Nope."


ads paid some of the bills at TiVo - so we split hairs on if ad money was used for free coffee or to fund R&D.

I think the intent of both our statements is correct.
Ads did not add directly to the value adds I listed for myself
ads may have helped pay for them from your statement


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

Adam1115 said:


> Getting back to actually answering the OPs question instead of flaming him...
> 
> I'm guessing that getting rid of the network connection and using a phone line would get rid of a LOT of them.
> 
> The only other option would be to 'downgrade' to a series 1. To my knowledge they are ad free.


there is no answer to the OPs question and the phone line will not reduce them - they are recorded late at night for the most part. I tried recording them my self for a while to see what happened - little change -they slipped through anyhow.

Going to a Series 1 is basically it, or else finding out if the cable company DVR has ads on it. Or the VCR mentioned above.


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## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

ZeoTiVo said:


> ads paid some of the bills at TiVo - so we split hairs on if ad money was used for free coffee or to fund R&D.
> ........


So let's see - the income from the ads amounts to coffee money. About what I thought.

Let 'em buy their own coffee like the rest of us.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

Fixer said:


> Again, another person who doesn't have a clue as to how those business models work.  The model that TiVo should be emulating is the iPod/iTunes model. In other words, hardware with matching service with no extra "crap" for customers to thumb through on the hardware. Is this concept too difficult for TiVo to grasp??
> 
> FYI: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5909868#post5909868
> 
> ...


actually I would peg it more as a Cell phone model. Does iTunes really have no ads? 
Perhaps if we agreed to pay TiVo 1.99 a show like at iTunes they would drop the ads.

Yah, I see no one has cancelled their TiVo service over the ads yet. _* waves back*_


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## timr_42 (Oct 14, 2001)

samo said:


> You can schedule "keep 1" manual recording for the time slot teleword is on and that will prevent ads download. Flip side is that your guide will be downloaded via phone line with increased probability of corrupted data during relatively long phone call.


I think that might have worked in the past, but I think they are on different days now. You would almost have to go look every week and see when they are on.

To much work for me.

I've said it before, as long as they don't make me watch them, I don't care if they are on my Tivo. I watch the ones that interest me. That will change when they FORCE me to watch ads.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Back when I almost cared about such things I took the channel that Teleworld is sent over out of "Channels You Receive" to see what happened, and that effectively blocked it.


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## Millionaire2K (Jun 16, 2008)

rodalpho said:


> I have TiVo for TV, get all my magazines for free, run an adblocker for the web, and live in manhattan so I don't have a car and don't listen to the radio. You got me on newspapers, I guess, but I mostly read them online. I distance myself from advertising as much as possible.


TV is a Business that relies a lot on ads to support it. So the fact that TiVo only shows a few ads that you DON'T have to click, you should be glad you can still skip commercials. Fear the day that the TV executives force the feds to cut down on time shifting devices.

Also how do you avoid the ads on the side of buildings in Manhattan? Don't you think they make your city CRAP?


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

gamegammy said:


> Is there any way to turn off interactive advertisement in tivo? I don't why but this stuff is really annoying me
> 
> Here is an example of what I am talking about.


So there you have it, despite the flaming by the same usual people, the answer to the ops question is YES, you can block the ads.

1) Disconnect network connection.
2) Connect phone line.
3) Set up a 'keep 1' manual recording for the time slot teleworld is on.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

Adam1115 said:


> So there you have it, despite the flaming by the same usual people, the answer to the ops question is YES, you can block the ads.
> 
> 1) Disconnect network connection.
> 2) Connect phone line.
> 3) Set up a 'keep 1' manual recording for the time slot teleworld is on.


teleworld does not "air" at the same time all the time. this answer is still not foolproof.

Plus you kill many features on the TiVo that I "flamed" as being a great value add. Cutting off you nose to spite your face is how i view this solution


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## rodalpho (Sep 12, 2006)

Millionaire2K said:


> TV is a Business that relies a lot on ads to support it.


I don't care. Not my problem. I do not accept the concept of a "social contract" with television stations to watch commercials.



> Also how do you avoid the ads on the side of buildings in Manhattan? Don't you think they make your city CRAP?


Agreed, I don't like the billboards. If there were some way to get rid of them analogous to TiVo for TV, or admuncher for the web, I would gladly pay for that service.

Your analogies are missing the point; I wasn't complaining about commercials on television, I was complaining about commercials on TiVo, a service I pay for _specifically to avoid advertisements._


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

ZeoTiVo said:


> teleworld does not "air" at the same time all the time. this answer is still not foolproof.
> 
> Plus you kill many features on the TiVo that I "flamed" as being a great value add. Cutting off you nose to spite your face is how i view this solution


I wasn't referring to you as flaming.

Agreed, you lose a lot of functionality.

I thought Teleworld DID run at the same time...?


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## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

Teleworld can be searched for and upcoming showings can be listed and their recordings canceled. I do it every week or 10 days. Only takes a minute or two.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

If it can be searched, couldn't you make a auto-record wishlist to keep one recording?


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## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

Adam1115 said:


> If it can be searched, couldn't you make a auto-record wishlist to keep one recording?


I don't think that would work since the ad recordings don't normally go into the now playing list but I admit I haven't tried it.


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## GoHokies! (Sep 21, 2005)

RoyK said:


> Tried the "everybody else is doing it" argument on my mom when I was 13. Didn't work then and it doesn't work now.


Which would be relevant if I were trying the "everybody else is doing it" argument now, which I wasn't.  Thanks for trying, though!



Fixer said:


> Again, another person who doesn't have a clue as to how those business models work.  The model that TiVo should be emulating is the iPod/iTunes model. In other words, hardware with matching service with no extra "crap" for customers to thumb through on the hardware. Is this concept too difficult for TiVo to grasp??


WTF are you getting on about? How does the iPod/iTunes model remotely compare here? I'm pretty sure that I buy my programming from Verizon, not from Tivo. If Tivo got in the business of selling me content, you'd have a point. Until then, you're the one with no clue. Is that too difficult a concept for you to grasp?


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

RoyK said:


> Teleworld can be searched for and upcoming showings can be listed and their recordings canceled.


That is, if your guide data is accurate.
When I search for "Teleworld", the closest I get is "Teletubbies". 
On my guide, paid programs only show up as "paid program".


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

Adam1115 said:


> If it can be searched, couldn't you make a auto-record wishlist to keep one recording?


Recording them in this way gives you the option to watch the ads by choosing to or not watching them. Kinda like how it already works.


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## Millionaire2K (Jun 16, 2008)

rodalpho said:


> I don't care. Not my problem. I do not accept the concept of a "social contract" with television stations to watch commercials.
> 
> Agreed, I don't like the billboards. If there were some way to get rid of them analogous to TiVo for TV, or admuncher for the web, I would gladly pay for that service.
> 
> Your analogies are missing the point; I wasn't complaining about commercials on television, I was complaining about commercials on TiVo, a service I pay for _specifically to avoid advertisements._


I do understand your pov. And I kinda agree with you.

I think however you might have to change your view as to what Tivo is designed to do. Its not a service to avoid commercials. Tivo is a service that alows you to rec all your fav shows and watch them when you like.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

scandia101 said:


> Recording them in this way gives you the option to watch the ads by choosing to or not watching them. Kinda like how it already works.


Not even remotely how it already works.

Right now, it:
'Bing's' and shows up while I'm fast forwarading.

Shows up while I'm trying to delete something requiring extra remote effort.

Leaves the middle of my show if I hit thumbs up at the wrong time.

Put's GIANT LOGOS on my TiVo Central screen.

Put's statements like "Get NAILED every weekend" at the end of my children's shows in Kid Zone.

Puts Ads right int he middle of my Music, Photos, & more menu items.

Put's ads in my now playing and in various other menu's.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

I just created a record 1 season pass, I'll see how it works....


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## Fixer (Mar 29, 2005)

GoHokies! said:


> WTF are you getting on about? How does the iPod/iTunes model remotely compare here? I'm pretty sure that I buy my programming from Verizon, not from Tivo. If Tivo got in the business of selling me content, you'd have a point. Until then, you're the one with no clue. Is that too difficult a concept for you to grasp?


TiVo is a piece of user owned hardware tethered to a service. Just like iPod/iTunes or cell phone/wireless carrier. You're going way out in left field when comparing to the magazine/newspaper/billboard business model. They're not even remotely similar to TiVo. Why do you all keep using this to justify TiVo Corp's ad crap?

You mention TiVo and content. Many of the posters here consider the guide data "content". This "content" is paid for with a recurring monthly fee or prepaid plan (i.e. lifetime or multi-year). There is also an upfront cost for the hardware. Some will say that TiVo takes a loss on hardware, which is why they need the ad revenue. I call BS on this because companies like wireless carriers take an initial loss on hardware, but make up for it with service plan contracts. TiVo essentially does the same thing, but take in ad revenue on top of it. With all of this, they STILL can't turn a profit. Why is that?

___


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## TriBruin (Dec 10, 2003)

Fixer said:


> TiVo is a piece of user owned hardware tethered to a service. Just like iPod/iTunes or cell phone/wireless carrier. You're going way out in left field when comparing to the magazine/newspaper/billboard business model. They're not even remotely similar to TiVo. Why do you all keep using this to justify TiVo Corp's ad crap?


How can you compare the iPod/iTunes to Tivo. Can I go buy a Tivo and use it with out services? What about without any service? Can I choose to pay for only the services that I want? Not a chance! With an iPod, I can pay for the iPod and NEVER pay Apply another cent, if I don't want to. I can get my music from Amazon, or from ripping CDs, or illicitly for free from the Internet. Can you do that with Tivo?



> You mention TiVo and content. Many of the posters here consider the guide data "content". This "content" is paid for with a recurring monthly fee or prepaid plan (i.e. lifetime or multi-year). There is also an upfront cost for the hardware. Some will say that TiVo takes a loss on hardware, which is why they need the ad revenue. I call BS on this because companies like wireless carriers take an initial loss on hardware, but make up for it with service plan contracts.


Sure they do, they also charge a hell of a lot more than Tivo. The cheapest phone plans are between 3 and 5 times the monthly cost of Tivo. A $100-$200 loss on a phone at $50/month will be made up faster than the same loss on a $13/mo (or $10/mo) plan that Tivo charges.



> TiVo essentially does the same thing, but take in ad revenue on top of it. With all of this, they STILL can't turn a profit. Why is that?


Because the market won't bear what Tivo would need to charge per month to recover its costs WITHOUT advertising. I don't have the numbers, but I could image it would easily be twice the current cost.

So Tivo has four choices here:

1) Go out of business today. Turn off everyone's Tivo. Bad option, everyone loses.

2) Discountinue advertising and keep the same costs. Great ads are gone. So is any reasonable expectation of future development (SDV tuner? Gone, Tivo S4 with Tru2Way? Never going to happen)

3) Raise their monthly fees to cover their costs without advertising. Customers will leave in droves for CableCo. What Tivo has now if a better service for approximately the same monthly cost (plus the initial cost). If they were to double their prices, I would consider leaving them for a crappy Comcast DVR.

4) Continue to do business as is and hope that future developments (like an S4) and partnerships (like the Comcast partnership) can help bring needed revenue.

Right now, I would choose option 4. Which would you choose?

___[/QUOTE]


----------



## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

How about firing a couple of VPs, making performance bonuses contingent on performance, and tightening their belts?


----------



## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

Adam1115 said:


> Not even remotely how it already works.
> 
> Right now, it:
> 'Bing's' and shows up while I'm fast forwarading.
> ...


and what you describe is not how it even remotely wroks on my TiVo DVRs either 
the thumbs up/bing ads usualy only show up during a new TV Season and then fade way - I have not seen/heard one for at least 5 weeks now

I see the one at the end of program screen, no extra work needed to delete or keep the show though

I have not had thumbs up ads do anything but take me right back to the show.

it is not a GIANT logo

have not seen anything like "get nailed" in a long time and in fact rarely have ads in my now playing list folders. That sort of fizzled away for TiVo.

and if product watch is annoying then you are really stretching for a way to be annoyed.


----------



## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

RBlount said:


> Because the market won't bear what Tivo would need to charge per month to recover its costs WITHOUT advertising. I don't have the numbers, but I could image it would easily be twice the current cost.


they do not make that kind of money from the ads. More homes have Xboxes than have TiVo DVRs.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

ZeoTiVo said:


> and what you describe is not how it even remotely wroks on my TiVo DVRs either


Hey, it's not the end of the world, I'm not mad, I can just see where the ads are annoying.



ZeoTiVo said:


> the thumbs up/bing ads usualy only show up during a new TV Season and then fade way - I have not seen/heard one for at least 5 weeks now


Oh no, that's not what I'm talking about. There are FF ads, when the commercial starts you here a "BING" and a big ad in the middle of the screen. There is ALSO a thumbs up, and if you hit it you get more info about the ad, possibly a video. I've accidentally hit thumbs up and suddenly I'm watching a commercial in the middle of trying to SKIP a commercial.



ZeoTiVo said:


> I see the one at the end of program screen, no extra work needed to delete or keep the show though


Glad it doesn't bug you, but I had been accustomed to the 'page down' 'select'. When these ads started, this took me to the ad instead of the intended behavior. Am I pissed off? No, but it's a little annoying to have to learn keystrokes to work around ads.



ZeoTiVo said:


> in fact rarely have ads in my now playing list folders. That sort of fizzled away for TiVo.


Maybe, but again with the keystrokes. When I wanted to hit the bedrom DVR, I'd had page down a few times



ZeoTiVo said:


> if product watch is annoying then you are really stretching for a way to be annoyed.


It is annoying. Whenever the move menu items around, all of the keystrokes to accomplish tasks change.

I would know that page down brought me to the bottom of the menu, one 'up', select, pagedown, select took me to standby (or something like that).

They put an ad at the bottom. No problem, one extra keystroke. Now they've added a SECOND ad a the bottom of TiVo central.

While maybe it's not a big deal for you (ore really me for that matter), I can see the frustration.

Do you think nobody minds reprogramming macros on their remotes or home automation systems every time TiVo rearranges their menus to accommodate ads on their high end Series 3?


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

Adam1115 said:


> Oh no, that's not what I'm talking about. There are FF ads, when the commercial starts you here a "BING" and a big ad in the middle of the screen. There is ALSO a thumbs up, and if you hit it you get more info about the ad, possibly a video. I've accidentally hit thumbs up and suddenly I'm watching a commercial in the middle of trying to SKIP a commercial.


 yah, I call all that billboard ads or thumbs up ads. I was talking of the same thing. Now accidentally hitting thumbs up while FFing through ads and doing it as a thumbs up is available is really hard on a peanut remote. Maybe on some universal with macros it is cloase enough - but that is remote design and handling issue.
Still I rarely see the thumbs up.


> Glad it doesn't bug you, but I had been accustomed to the 'page down' 'select'. When these ads started, this took me to the ad instead of the intended behavior. Am I pissed off? No, but it's a little annoying to have to learn keystrokes to work around ads.


 yah, I posted when the nowp laying ads first appeared that it crossed my line as well of making me use the remote in a different way. - eg hitting end of list and then up arrow to get to last show. Still I have not seen many now playing ads at all.


> It is annoying. Whenever the move menu items around, all of the keystrokes to accomplish tasks change.
> 
> I would know that page down brought me to the bottom of the menu, one 'up', select, pagedown, select took me to standby (or something like that).
> 
> They put an ad at the bottom. No problem, one extra keystroke. Now they've added a SECOND ad a the bottom of TiVo central.


 rarely do they have some special offer from TiVo and have that on TiVo central as well.
That is to me the most amusing thing about all this. If TiVo had 20 million homes then the advertising would be way different as advertisers would really notice. As it is 1 to 1.5 million standalones just is not getting most advertisers wanting to use TiVo for an advertising medium.



> While maybe it's not a big deal for you (ore really me for that matter), I can see the frustration.
> 
> Do you think nobody minds reprogramming macros on their remotes or home automation systems every time TiVo rearranges their menus to accommodate ads on their high end Series 3?


Sure, anyone would - but a good macro habit would be to use the shortcut keys versus up down arrows to navigate. That would be like using mouse movemment in PC macros. Since TiVo supplied the one macro I really care bout of hitting now playing I really found little use for other macros since just using the menus is easy.


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## rodalpho (Sep 12, 2006)

Millionaire2K said:


> I think however you might have to change your view as to what Tivo is designed to do. Its not a service to avoid commercials. Tivo is a service that alows you to rec all your fav shows and watch them when you like.


That's certainly how TiVo likes to put it, but that is not why I bought it. For me, avoiding advertisements is of equal or greater importance to timeshifting.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

rodalpho said:


> That's certainly how TiVo likes to put it, but that is not why I bought it. For me, avoiding advertisements is of equal or greater importance to timeshifting.


then you should switch to an open source DVR where that is also of importance to the developers.

Kind of odd to buy/use a DVR that specifically says advertising is important to them when avoidance of such is important to you.


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## Irk89 (Jul 9, 2008)

A little banner isn't too bad. It could be worse, tivo could automaticly record infomercials or commercials of their advertising clients. I would be particularly angry.


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## TriBruin (Dec 10, 2003)

Irk89 said:


> A little banner isn't too bad. It could be worse, tivo could automaticly record infomercials or commercials of their advertising clients. I would be particularly angry.


Shh, don't tell him about Teleworld!

Actually, Tivo does record infomercials. However, you only have to watch them if you choose to.


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## rodalpho (Sep 12, 2006)

ZeoTiVo said:


> then you should switch to an open source DVR where that is also of importance to the developers.


Like I said earlier in the thread if they make one that's any good, I will.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

rodalpho said:


> Like I said earlier in the thread if they make one that's any good, I will.


Ahh, but that's the benefit of open source, if they're not any good, you can help make them better.. if they don't offer the features you want, you can work on integrating them with your own skills...


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## rodalpho (Sep 12, 2006)

Thanks RMS, I'll keep that in mind, but I'm just a consumer with money to spend not a greybeard hippie utopian programmer.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

rodalpho said:


> Thanks RMS, I'll keep that in mind, but I'm just a consumer with money to spend not a greybeard hippie utopian programmer.


so are you just negative about everything?

Open source contributors come in all shapes and sizes, despite your naive stereotype.


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## GoHokies! (Sep 21, 2005)

Fixer said:


> TiVo is a piece of user owned hardware tethered to a service. Just like iPod/iTunes or cell phone/wireless carrier. You're going way out in left field when comparing to the magazine/newspaper/billboard business model. They're not even remotely similar to TiVo. Why do you all keep using this to justify TiVo Corp's ad crap?


Shows how little you know about an iPod and iTunes, since once you buy an iPod you're not required to pay a single dime to Apple ever again and get music from a variety of sources onto your iPod. I wasn't making the newspaper/magazine (I never mentioned billboards, you made that one up) analogy to compare business models, I was giving rodalpho examples of commonly used subscription services where you pay for a service and are still presented with advertisements. Fortunately, rodalpho understood what I was talking about and was able to respond appropriately - to his credit, he avoids all of those models, which I can absolutely respect.



> You mention TiVo and content. Many of the posters here consider the guide data "content". This "content" is paid for with a recurring monthly fee or prepaid plan (i.e. lifetime or multi-year). There is also an upfront cost for the hardware. Some will say that TiVo takes a loss on hardware, which is why they need the ad revenue. I call BS on this because companies like wireless carriers take an initial loss on hardware, but make up for it with service plan contracts. TiVo essentially does the same thing, but take in ad revenue on top of it. With all of this, they STILL can't turn a profit. Why is that?
> ___


I don't typically watch Tivo for the guide data - I won't speak for the others. RBlount did a good job of explaining why Tivo is in the position that they're in, and need the ad dollars.


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## zundian (Mar 5, 2008)

Adam1115 said:


> Glad it doesn't bug you, but I had been accustomed to the 'page down' 'select'. When these ads started, this took me to the ad instead of the intended behavior. Am I pissed off? No, but it's a little annoying to have to learn keystrokes to work around ads.
> 
> Maybe, but again with the keystrokes. When I wanted to hit the bedrom DVR, I'd had page down a few times
> 
> Do you think nobody minds reprogramming macros on their remotes or home automation systems every time TiVo rearranges their menus to accommodate ads on their high end Series 3?


I weep for society when hitting a button one more time is considered to be too much effort. Have you pre-ordered your official Buy 'N Large hoverchair?


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

zundian said:


> I weep for society when hitting a button one more time is considered to be too much effort. Have you pre-ordered your official Buy 'N Large hoverchair?


it is not just about hitting a button one more time though. I am all for ads helping TiVo out and keeping TV producers in enough money to keep producing good shows. TiVo or some DVR is needed though as not all shows are good and even among the good shows not all appeal to me directly.

So even those of us that find no annoyance issue with ads on the screen do not want the ads to become obtrusive in that we have to use the remote control to get around the ads and to do what we intended with the DVR.

the ad at the bottom of a list of shows in a folder touched that line and put its toes over that line as now when you hit skip to end or page down all the way - you end up on the ad and not the last show.

to be sure just one more button press to go up one but that extra button is because of the ad and no other reason at all.

I would like to see TiVo pull their toes back by doing some programming to have skip to end or page down all the way land on the last show and make the extra button push be to go down one and view the ad if I so choose.


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## rodalpho (Sep 12, 2006)

I would like to see the ads gone entirely, and that's the only answer that would actually make me happy. However your solution would be far, far better than what we have now.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

zundian said:


> I weep for society when hitting a button one more time is considered to be too much effort. Have you pre-ordered your official Buy 'N Large hoverchair?


You quoted, what I said... so why didn't you read it?

I never said "too much effort". My exact words were "it's a little annoying".

You should read the message before you start weeping.


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## zundian (Mar 5, 2008)

Adam1115 said:


> You quoted, what I said... so why didn't you read it?
> 
> I never said "too much effort". My exact words were "it's a little annoying".
> 
> You should read the message before you start weeping.


How many extra keystrokes have the anti-ad people put into this thread? Perhaps instead-of wasting them complaining about the ads, you could put those keystrokes into ignoring the ads on your TiVo screens. In the quoted post alone you could have skipped 189 ads (I'm at work, being productive!) on your TiVo, instead-of replying.

You know what, I've changed my mind. I'll be generous and give you two keystrokes per ad,which still means 94 ads that could have been skipped. Think of the children!


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## webin (Feb 13, 2008)

I'm aware that there are ads on my tivo, but I can't tell you what any of them are for. I'm fairly experienced at turning out things like that. I just don't look at them.

The bottom line is that advertising is giving tivo additional revenue. It's helping fund the company and keep it growing. You can think of it as the ads are subsidizing your tivo subscription. Without them, you'd have to pay more for what you get.... or tivo would die.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

zundian said:


> How many extra keystrokes have the anti-ad people put into this thread? Perhaps instead-of wasting them complaining about the ads, you could put those keystrokes into ignoring the ads on your TiVo screens. In the quoted post alone you could have skipped 189 ads (I'm at work, being productive!) on your TiVo, instead-of replying.
> 
> You know what, I've changed my mind. I'll be generous and give you two keystrokes per ad,which still means 94 ads that could have been skipped. Think of the children!


I guess it wasn't big enough for you.

*I never said "too much effort". My exact words were "it's a little annoying".*


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## WhiskeyTango (Sep 20, 2006)

webin said:


> I'm aware that there are ads on my tivo, but I can't tell you what any of them are for. I'm fairly experienced at turning out things like that. I just don't look at them.


Same with me. I know they're there but couldn't tell you what they are.



webin said:


> The bottom line is that advertising is giving tivo additional revenue. It's helping fund the company and keep it growing. You can think of it as the ads are subsidizing your tivo subscription. Without them, you'd have to pay more for what you get.... or tivo would die.


I think this is the point a lot of people miss. Tivo is a relatively small company competing against the likes of Comcast, Cablevision, and TimeWarner who combined own probably half the country. The cable co's can produce a cheaper box and charge lower prices than Tivo. The cable co. can replace your box if it breaks which is what they expect it to do. Hell, I've gone through 4 cable boxes in 10 months that stopped working for one reason or another. Meanwhile my oldest Tivo has been running about 4.5 years now. In order to remain semi-competitive price-wise, Tivo has to come up with other forms of revenue like the ads. Without them, subscription prices would be much higher and more people would opt for the cheaper boxes.


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## zundian (Mar 5, 2008)

Adam1115 said:


> I guess it wasn't big enough for you.
> I never said "too much effort". My exact words were "it's a little annoying".


However, you also wrote:



Adam1115 said:


> Maybe, but again with the keystrokes. When I wanted to hit the bedrom DVR, I'd had page down a few times


As you see, you've implied that it is annoying because you have to put more effort into it. My second post was aimed at the more general anti-ad audience not just you, Sunshine.


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## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

zundian said:


> However, you also wrote:
> 
> As you see, you've implied that it is annoying because you have to put more effort into it. My second post was aimed at the more general anti-ad audience not just you, Sunshine.


The more general anti-ad audience isn't concerned with keypresses nor do we find your comments relevant to the discussion.


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## MikeAndrews (Jan 17, 2002)

samo said:


> You can schedule "keep 1" manual recording for the time slot teleword is on and that will prevent ads download. Flip side is that your guide will be downloaded via phone line with increased probability of corrupted data during relatively long phone call.


Corrupted data? You mean TiVo doesn't use error checking/correcting on transfers over the phone line? Guess again. 

You know, we used to transfer many thousands of files in them old dial up days. Corruption of data wasn't the problem.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

zundian said:


> As you see, you've implied that it is annoying because you have to put more effort into it. My second post was aimed at the more general anti-ad audience not just you, Sunshine.


No, I didn't imply that. I *said*, it's slightly annoying and I can see why people would not like the ads. Not just because of that, because of a list of other things.

But it's not that big of a deal to *me*.


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## rodalpho (Sep 12, 2006)

WhiskeyTango said:


> Without them, subscription prices would be much higher


Fine by me, charge double, remove the ads. Offer it as an option. I don't care about the money.


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## samo (Oct 7, 1999)

netringer said:


> Corrupted data? You mean TiVo doesn't use error checking/correcting on transfers over the phone line? Guess again.
> 
> You know, we used to transfer many thousands of files in them old dial up days. Corruption of data wasn't the problem.


And if you used TiVo with phone line before they started sending data by TV signal you would know that once in a while TiVo data downloands get corrupted, error checking or not.


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## MikeAndrews (Jan 17, 2002)

samo said:


> And if you used TiVo with phone line before they started sending data by TV signal you would know that once in a while TiVo data downloands get corrupted, error checking or not.


I did. Still do. Series 1 standalone. I dunno what downloads were ever corrupt.  Maybe if the transfer was interrupted. Whatevah.


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## samo (Oct 7, 1999)

netringer said:


> I dunno what downloads were ever corrupt.  Maybe if the transfer was interrupted.


Exactly. Longer the call, more of the chance for download to get interrupted, because TiVo yields the line to any incoming call.


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## treborb (Jul 12, 2008)

As I am reading the messages back and forth. How can one get rid of the ads that pop up when your watching shows in real time, with the stupid thumb up! when tivo loses customers because people will go else where. With the new guy on the block then change will happen. Don't mess with someones real time viewing. That is a no no!


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## samo (Oct 7, 1999)

"Clear" button on the remote is your friend.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

treborb said:


> How can one get rid of the ads that pop up when your watching shows in real time, with the stupid thumb up!


I've never seen a 'thumbs up' promo while watching a show. 
If your using a Tivo the way it _should_ be used, you'll never see those.


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## lrhorer (Aug 31, 2003)

webin said:


> Without them, you'd have to pay more for what you get.... or tivo would die.


This is false, and an extremely common, highly annoying misconception in the general public. The consumer is forced to pay for adds whether they watch them or not, and whether they make use of the advertising medium or not. People talk about OTA content being "free", when in fact it is nothing of the like. Indeed, it costs the consumer many times the amount CATV, FIOS, U-Verse, or Satellite subscriptions do. The difference is the consumer has a choice to subscribe or not subscribe to the aforementioned services, and ignoring for the moment any contract limitations may cancel their subscriptions any time. Commecrial advertisements, however, whether on the Internet, broadcast television, newspapers, magazines, or as in this case on the TiVo are paid for directly by you and me whether we like it or not. Having the adds on the TiVo increases the costs to us, and we do in fact pay more for what we get, even if we don't get it. We have to pay for the TiVo adds, even if we don't have a TiVo, or for that matter even a television.

Up to 1/3 of the cost of every item you purchase - from a can of beans to an automobile - pays for the privilege of the companies involved in delivering the product to you trying to coerce you into watching their ads whether you watch them or not, and whether you make use of whatever facility to which they attach the add or not. The notion that the adds make the TiVo subscription cheaper is just so much nonsense. It's just the additional costs are diverted through other channels than the subscription alone.


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## bicker (Nov 9, 2003)

rodalpho said:


> If a competitor came along that offered comparable utility without the ads, I would certainly switch.


There is no reason to believe that TiVo wouldn't change to address such a competitor, should one come along. Expect that since there is no such competitor, there is a really good reason for that, one that is tied inextricably to why TiVo views itself, among other things, as an alternative advertising platform.

If you find advertising deeply offensive, you may be better off doing without television entirely.



rodalpho said:


> I don't care. Not my problem.


Obviously, it is your problem. Ask yourself why you started this thread.



rodalpho said:


> I do not accept the concept of a "social contract" with television stations to watch commercials.


The way contracts work is offer and acceptance. In the absence of acceptance, the buy _does without_ the offered service.



rodalpho said:


> Your analogies are missing the point; I wasn't complaining about commercials on television, I was complaining about commercials on TiVo, a service I pay for _specifically to avoid advertisements._


The analogies do apply. There are commercials on cable channels, which indeed you do "pay for".

When you pay for TiVo or for cable for that matter, you're paying for elements of delivery service -- you are *not* paying for programming.


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## bicker (Nov 9, 2003)

Fixer said:


> Why do you all keep using this to justify TiVo Corp's ad crap?


Advertising doesn't require justification. Rather, what folks are doing in this thread is pointing out the irrationality of the OP's perspective regarding advertising.



Fixer said:


> You mention TiVo and content. Many of the posters here consider the guide data "content".


When folks spend hours each night reading the program guide, then you might have a point. Until then, the program guide is a part of the service that records and plays-back what is actually content.



Fixer said:


> With all of this, they STILL can't turn a profit. Why is that?


Because customers are unwilling to pay enough to make such a service profitable. In other words, we're too cheap.


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## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

bicker said:


> Advertising doesn't require justification. Rather, what folks are doing in this thread is pointing out the irrationality of the OP's perspective regarding advertising.
> ....


The OP made exactly two posts in this thread --


gamegammy said:


> Is there any way to turn off interactive advertisement in tivo? I don't why but this stuff is really annoying me
> 
> Here is an example of what I am talking about.





gamegammy said:


> I don't like the advertisement being displayed at the end of program. I just don't want to see that.


The only perspective the OP made regarding advertising is that on TiVo it annoys him, and he doesn't like seeing it, and he wondered if there is a way to turn it off. Perfectly valid. Perfectly reasonable. *Perfectly rational*.

What some people are trying to do in this thread is to put down the OP for stating his opinion and asking a simple question.


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## rodalpho (Sep 12, 2006)

Yep. You've been around since 2004, surely you're aware that TiVo has crazy fanboys just like apple. Great products generate fanboys, then years later when quality drops they defend their chosen corporation to the death. Shrug.


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## bicker (Nov 9, 2003)

RoyK said:


> The OP made exactly two posts in this thread --


Yup, sorry.... after a week on vacation I forgot who made which points. The reference I was making was to rodalpho's messages.



RoyK said:


> What some people are trying to do in this thread is to put down the OP for stating his opinion and asking a simple question.


As you yourself pointed out, the OP only made two posts in this thread. It is unreasonable of you to assume that the comments you are referring to were intentionally directed at the OP. More likely, they were directed at other folks posting in this thread, like rodalpho.


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## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

bicker said:


> ... It is unreasonable of you to assume that the comments you are referring to were intentionally directed at the OP. More likely, they were directed at other folks posting in this thread, like rodalpho.


The comment I was referring to was the one I quoted, was made by you, and was indeed directed at the OP. You say you erred. Fine.

I'm not concerned about rodalpho - I'm quite sure he -- like me -- considers the source before taking ridiculous comments to heart.


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## bicker (Nov 9, 2003)

RoyK said:


> What some people are trying to do in this thread is to put down the OP for stating his opinion and asking a simple question.





RoyK said:


> The comment I was referring to was the one I quoted


How can one comment be made by "some people" as you originally claimed? I think you're just blowing smoke, bending reality in your own mind to justify your vacuous comments.


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## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

bicker said:


> How can one comment be made by "some people" as you originally claimed? I think you're just blowing smoke, bending reality in your own mind to justify your vacuous comments.


Have a nice day.


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## bicker (Nov 9, 2003)

Just as I thought.


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

lrhorer said:


> or as in this case on the TiVo are paid for directly by you and me whether we like it or not.


OK, tell us how we directly pay for the ads.
oh is that the explanation below?↓↓↓↓



> Having the adds on the TiVo increases the costs to us, and we do in fact pay more for what we get, even if we don't get it. We have to pay for the TiVo adds, even if we don't have a TiVo, or for that matter even a television.
> 
> Up to 1/3 of the cost of every item you purchase - from a can of beans to an automobile - pays for the privilege of the companies involved in delivering the product to you trying to coerce you into watching their ads whether you watch them or not, and whether you make use of whatever facility to which they attach the add or not.


When I buy a box of Sugar Coated Fruitee Flakes with Marshmallows, and then the Sugar Coated Fruitee Flakes with Marshmallows cereal company buys a few ads, I am *indirectly* paying for ads.

When I hand a check written on my account to the D. Steven's Advertising agency for an ad, that's directly paying for an ad.



> The notion that the adds make the TiVo subscription cheaper is just so much nonsense. It's just the additional costs are diverted through other channels than the subscription alone.


You should be saying the general cost of using a Tivo rather than the specific cost of the subscription. Because my subscription costs is relatively fixed. The diverted costs (paying more for products) may increase the cost of using a Tivo, but the subscription is unaffected for now.


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## lrhorer (Aug 31, 2003)

scandia101 said:


> OK, tell us how we directly pay for the ads.
> oh is that the explanation below?↓↓↓↓


OK, you're right, the term "directly" was ill-advised. I should have said something like "ultimately".



bob6466 said:


> You should be saying the general cost of using a Tivo rather than the specific cost of the subscription. Because my subscription costs is relatively fixed. The diverted costs (paying more for products) may increase the cost of using a Tivo, but the subscription is unaffected for now.


True, but this is a distinction about which the informed consumer should care relatively little. It's how many boxes of Sugar Coated Fruitee Flakes the consumer can buy which matters, not whether the cost of the box at the counter is higher or the take-home pay after spending on other items is less. More importantly to me personally is the fact in one case I have a choice and no one is expecting the public at large to pay for the services I want, while in the second case the public has no practical choice, and the public (myself in particular) is forced to pay for the vomitus which passes for Network Programming whether we individually watch it or not.


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