Key Feature Networks Don't Want You To Have

[FredLeonard]

You got to see this! An article on Slate points out yet another piece of new technology Europeans have that we don't. Blame network corporate greed and/or indifference and the lapdog FCC.

Why Do Americans Have the Worst DVRs?

Our digital recorders cut off the last minutes of sporting events and our favorite shows. That doesn’t happen in Europe.

www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=9709075#post9709075

No clipping either because broadcasters don't follow the scheduled times and try to make programs run together - starting them 30 seconds early or ending them 40 seconds late.

Key Points:
European countries have an embedded signal saying what program is on.
Tivos and other DVRs can use that signal to start and end recordings on time.
US networks don't want us to have this.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Here's a direct link to the Slate article in question:
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/...feature_that_makes_european_dvrs_so_much.html

 

[Morgan Wick]

It's because European governments actually stand up to their big corporations instead of being an arm of their will. And you don't want America to be all socialist like those Euro commies, do you? Do you?!?

 

[landtuna]

I agree that the USA should have accurate recording but it isn't all that big a deal. Wifey, who is the Master of DVR Recording in my house already sets her times to overflow so she doesn't miss the start of end of shows (CBS is notorious for this). She doesn't record live sporting events so that isn't an issue.

For non-live events, most are streamed over the Internet within a day or so of the live broadcast - watch it there. For live events.....well, you shouldn't be watching recorded live events anyway. ;D

 

[LKellerIII]

My DVR - from Comcast realizes that live news and sporting events can run over, and prompts you with an option to extend the broadcast for 30 minutes or longer.

 

[NHRadio]

My HD DVR from DirecTV also has that option. It comes in handy.

 

[FredLeonard]

Tivo has the pad prompts, too. A work-around at best. As the Slate article points out, in the event of over-time play, you might end up with not enough padding.

In addition, the live prompt doesn't do anything for programs which follow a live event. CBS insists NFL games end at 7:00pm on Sunday. They never do. Usually they are over by 7:30 (a more realistic time, which Fox uses) but not always. In any case, all the Sunday night shows are pushed back and recording is screwed up for anything that evening. You can pad, but most DVR's only record two shows at a time and padding may interfere with later recordings. It's a mess.

Many DVR users believe (rightly or wrongly) that networks deliberately want to thwart Tivo and other DVR users. They routinely provide inaccurate schedules so shows will get clipped. And some users don't trust networks to provide accurate RDS info for DVR recording. They say networks would provide deliberately inaccurate information to DVRs to block recording of other shows on other networks.

In any case, networks could easily provide this information to make DVRs work better and they don't. Viewer be damned. No reason for them to do this. Nielsen now counts delayed viewing and studies have shown DVR users have to pay attention to adds as they fast forward to see know when the program starts again. These studies show ads can be equally effective when fast forwarded; more effective if designed with DVR use in mind.

Yes, you can work around. Surprising so many of you are willing to put up with this kind of avoidable inconvenience.

 

[NHRadio]

Surprising so many of you are willing to put up with this kind of avoidable inconvenience.

It's hardly worth leaving the country over. There's more to life than television.

 

[landtuna]

Nielsen now counts delayed viewing and studies have shown DVR users have to pay attention to adds as they fast forward to see know when the program starts again. These studies show ads can be equally effective when fast forwarded; more effective if designed with DVR use in mind.

Not in my house. My OTA DVR has a couple of "time fast forward" (and reverse as well) that permit you to simply hit a button and get 30 seconds of FF without spooling through the video. Two clicks and you've bypassed virtually every standard commercial without seeing a dozen frames. ;D

 

[Mediafrog+]

CBS insists NFL games end at 7:00pm on Sunday.

Not any more. Starting in 2012 CBS now schedules a 7:30ET prime time start on doubleheader Sundays for those stations on the east coast feed.. If all the late regional games are over early, they'll fill with studio stuff. Of course the games can still run later than 7:30 and push the schedule back further. However I believe that in the event of a runover past 8pm ET CBS will drop one of the prime time shows on the east coast feed so stations won't have a ridiculously late newscast. A rerun of the dropped show would air on the west coast.

 

[Morgan Wick]

Surprising so many of you are willing to put up with this kind of avoidable inconvenience.

It's hardly worth leaving the country over. There's more to life than television.

BUT THAT'S THE SORT OF COMPLACENCY THAT LETS THE BIG CORPORATIONS CONTROL EVERY INCH OF OUR LIVES~!

CBS insists NFL games end at 7:00pm on Sunday.

Not any more. Starting in 2012 CBS now schedules a 7:30ET prime time start on doubleheader Sundays for those stations on the east coast feed.. If all the late regional games are over early, they'll fill with studio stuff.

Naturally they only did this when the NFL moved the late doubleheader later by ten minutes and now games never end at 7:30 and often come pretty close to 8...

 

[FredLeonard]

We can thank Heidi for all this. Of course, back then NFL games were over quicker and almost never ran over.

Frank DeFord did a piece on NPR this week about how games are played sooooooo slooooooowly.

http://www.npr.org/2013/06/19/193086412/tick-tock-make-the-serve-pitch-putt-or-shot

 

[SixtiesGuy]

It's because European governments actually stand up to their big corporations instead of being an arm of their will. And you don't want America to be all socialist like those Euro commies, do you? Do you?!?

Damn right I don't. But don't worry comrade. It won't be long before we'll become just as successful as they are at chasing all those evil corporations and the jobs they create outta here.

 

[landtuna]

Frank DeFord did a piece on NPR this week about how games are played sooooooo slooooooowly.

The game length changed because the game changed. In the late 60's the forward pass became much more popular than it had ever been, particularly in the AFL, and incomplete passes stop the game clock.

 

[FredLeonard]

Frank DeFord did a piece on NPR this week about how games are played sooooooo slooooooowly.

The game length changed because the game changed. In the late 60's the forward pass became much more popular than it had ever been, particularly in the AFL, and incomplete passes stop the game clock.

That's one rule they need to change. Get rid of that a most other time-outs. Notice how they often get the two minute warning before 7:00 and they still can't get the game over with by 7:30.

The NFL (followed by the NCAA) has spent the last 60 odd years corrupting football, which was already a corruption of Rugby. The more they corrupt it, the more football lemmings and groupies love it.

US "football" illustrates how clueless this country is. As does the aforementioned complacency and willingness to bow to corporate interests.

 

[arnoldevns]

It is ridiculous to compare US and European television. The economic models of the two are very different. The US networks rely on advertising for the bulk of their revenue. In many European countries the big networks are government owned and have no ads. There is no doubt ad-supported networks want to keep DVR's from killing their revenue stream. I don't blame them. That will be the case until they figure out how to make money on DVR viewership.

 

[Morgan Wick]

Frank DeFord did a piece on NPR this week about how games are played sooooooo slooooooowly.

The game length changed because the game changed. In the late 60's the forward pass became much more popular than it had ever been, particularly in the AFL, and incomplete passes stop the game clock.

That's one rule they need to change. Get rid of that a most other time-outs. Notice how they often get the two minute warning before 7:00 and they still can't get the game over with by 7:30.

The NFL (followed by the NCAA) has spent the last 60 odd years corrupting football, which was already a corruption of Rugby. The more they corrupt it, the more football lemmings and groupies love it.

US "football" illustrates how clueless this country is. As does the aforementioned complacency and willingness to bow to corporate interests.

I'll make sure to get off of your lawn now.

 

[landtuna]

Get rid of that a most other time-outs. Notice how they often get the two minute warning before 7:00 and they still can't get the game over with by 7:30.

My main problem with incessant time-outs used to be with basketball (and still is because I don't watch it). The last five minutes of a game used to take an hour. It has gotten so that the NFL is almost as bad mainly due to excessive use of off-field umpiring. That is one reason I watch only college games now as they have not introduced all the artificial stoppages into their game.

The NFL (followed by the NCAA) has spent the last 60 odd years corrupting football, which was already a corruption of Rugby. The more they corrupt it, the more football lemmings and groupies love it.

It has been a really long time since football approached anything like rugby. The forward pass changed all that. As for "corruption" - all games are continually refined but there is a big difference between games for the American TV market and (for instance) international soccer for primarily stadium fans. One huge difference is FIFA, the governing body for international soccer. No such thing rules American football so it takes only the owners of the leagues to implement new rules. FIFA changes are very slow and sluggish to the point that practically nothing happens at all.

A case in point is substitution. Since soccer is usually played in cooler weather there are fairly restrictive substitution rules. At the 1994 World Cup there were players laying all over the field by the middle of the second half because they were playing in hot weather (the Bay Area) and everybody had cramps. But do you think they would alter the laws of the game to allow for this? Hell no.

US "football" illustrates how clueless this country is. As does the aforementioned complacency and willingness to bow to corporate interests.

I don't see your link between football and America's "cluelessness". Both the NFL and NCAA are businesses, private businesses as per the capitalist system. They are not required to be responsive to their fans so they make rules that benefit themselves which is what every unregulated corporation and private business in the country does as well. I got to where watching the NFL was boring so I turned it off. If and when it ever returns to something like the AFL of the late 60's/early 70's I will once again become a fan.

But with hockey, who needs football?