http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060420/...ltBHNlYwM3MTY-

New Technology May Force TV Ad Viewing

By MAY WONG, AP Technology Writer
Wed Apr 19, 9:51 PM ET

SAN JOSE, Calif. - In this era of easy ad skipping with
TiVo-like video recorders, could television viewers one day be forced to watch commercials with a system that prevents channel switching?

Yes, according to Royal Philips Electronics. A patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says researchers of the Netherland-based consumer electronics company have created a technology that could let broadcasters freeze a channel during a commercial, so viewers wouldn't be able to avoid it.

The pending patent, published on March 30, says the feature would be implemented on a program-by-program basis. Devices that could carry the technology would be a television or a set-top-box.

Philips acknowledged, however, that the anti-channel changing technology might not sit well with consumers and suggested in its patent filing that consumers be allowed to avoid the feature if they paid broadcasters a fee.

On Wednesday, company officials issued a statement that noted the technology also enables the opposite: allowing viewers to watch television without advertising. The intention was never to force viewers to watch ads against their will, the company said of the technology.

"We developed a system where the viewer can choose, at the beginning of a movie, to either watch the movie without ads, or watch the movie with ads," the company stated. "It is up to the viewer to take this decision, and up to the broadcaster to offer the various services."

The company also said it had no plans to use the technology in any of its products.

Philips wanted to provide the technology and seek the patent only as part of the broader developments within the industry, Philips spokesman Andre Manning said.

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Personally, I think any DVR maker will be shooting themselves in the foot if they implement this. This would likely drive people to create their own boxes or maybe even dust off their VCRs.

Gee, do you think?

This feature sounds like a great way to reduce your TV sales to zero.

I call bullshit on this explanation. Who in their right mind would choose to watch the commercials?

Nothing good can come of this.

I have an older television. Hopefully they'll come up with a way to upgrade to this system with minimal cost the consumer.

What I dont like is they make it like Tivo is so much different than a VCR. We have always had the ability to skip commercials when we record a program and watch it later. It's not like Tivo allows you to skip the commercials while watching the program live, which is what all these articles always make it seem like.

Actually, I normally pause TIVO for 15 minutes, then watch the show and skip the commericals.

Sounds pretty stupid and I'm sure there will be an off the market box to combat this. Plus I like to channel surf, this would piss me off.

I do the same thing with my DVR. If I plan to watch a regular 1 hour show (almost) right away, I'll let it run for around 15 mins., then watch the recording while skipping all the commercials.
But I still can't actually skip live commercials as the show is running. The show still takes up the 1 hour broacast time in real life. I'm just only watching 45 mins. of it but I'm still watching a recording. I can't start watching the show at 9 and have it be over at 9:45 without having watched any commercials. The recording and show will still end at approx. 10pm.

Now, if you are channel surfing, would this freeze your tv once you hit a commercial?

profits!

Right, as soon as this this new product is introduced, a pair of robotic arms will extend from the TV to hold your head in place and eyelids open, so you cannot run away from the commercial even if you wanted to...

That's what it sounds like to me. They're going to have to modify it so that you can still change the channel if you're only on a channel for under 10 seconds.

What's the point of paying to watch something without commercials? So at 45 min past the hour I have 15 to wait until the next hour's programming starts?

I never watch live TV any more anyway. How does this even combat something even as simple as a VCR? Sounds like worthless technology to me, but I rarely channel surf.

And, not for nothing, but if a broadcaster had the ability to prevent viewers from changing the channel, what would stop them from keeping viewers from ever changing the channel. I mean, the technology is supposed to keep from turning the channel during commercials, but I can't imagine the technology would only be able to prevent channel changing during commercials.

This is less about combating DVRs and more about combating channel surfing (the technology doesn't appear to prevent fast forwarding, it prevents changing the channel, something you don't generally do when watching a recording), something that's been with us since the invention of the remote control (if not before).

This is all about buying patents. Companies buy (or create) patents to things that they'll never use in a million years, mainly to keep the compitition from using it.

Note that Philips is the co-creator of the compact disc, and no company protested more loudly about having the official "compact disc" logo on copy-protected CDs than Philips. In fact, it was removed from *most* copy protected discs. And let's not forget the DVP-642 player, either. Can anyone name a Sony DVD player that does DivX or XviD videos and MP3 audio in addition to DVD discs?

It was only a few months ago when a suit from NBC went on record saying he considered it a crime for you to walk away from the TV during a commercial.

As a matter of fact, here are a couple pictures from the patent application. They have two models;

The "Automatic"






and the "Manual"

Now see, I would just go make a sandwhich during those commercials, like I used to. Of course I've lost 80 pounds since I got my Tivo.

what, the $50 I pay for basic cable isn't enough for these bloodsuckers?

without commercials subsidizing costs, it might be $150. who knows.

This new idea goes GREAT hand-in-hand with those forced previews at the beginning of some DVDs that disable the skip, fast forward AND menu buttons.

Actually you can skip the forced commercials/trailers on a dvd. When you first put it in press stop and then menu, dont hit play.

But yeah this is a horrible idea. I can't think of a single consumer that would like this, although I thought the same about commercials before theatres, and that hasn't changed.

On the plus side if this does go into effect, then HBO and Showtime will get a ton more subscribers. And then eventually, like in the year 3000, all tv will be like HBO and Showtime and never show a commercial again.

This sort of thing brings me back to my fundamental question: Who actually buys/desires something based on an ad?

It's only a matter of time, just like in Max Headroom, that 'Off' buttons become illegal.

D

Some people do, but you're over-simplifying it. It's more about brand awareness, so when you're in the store looking at the products, you'll most likely gravitate toward ones that are stuck in your brain through advertising.

I think this is a horrible idea, but I'm one of the people that is willing to pay extra for broadcast TV without commercials. In fact, if I could stomach being 6-months to a year behind in TV, I'd buy all the shows I watch via Tivo on DVD.

I already pay for satellite radio because I cannot stand terrestrial radio due to commercials. I'd do the same for TV in a heartbeat, as long as it was reasonable.