Animated ads durring TV shows are getting way out of hand

[presto]

A year or so ago you could record a TV show and just have a small station logo that showed up in the corner once in a while.

Now the logo is there the whole time plus small animated adds that play along the bottom of the screen before and after each commercial break.

I was watching one scene of some people on a lake when suddenly a shark fin appeared complete with ripples in the water and swam around a bit. I thought it was part of the scene until the words popped up letting me know about "Shark Week".

The worst example so far is on my copies of Columbo. It's a little jarring to be watching Peter Falk and have the phrase "Queer Eye!" pop up every few minutes.

[lordsmurf]

Cartoon Network promos are crap now too... with sound that overthrows the tv show playing. I don't care about Clone Wars with light saber effects every 4 minutes. Play commercials between shows, not on top of them with a mutating network logo. A-holes.

It makes complaining about talking over the credits seem small in comparison.

The animated logo ties with my former biggest complaint: commercials that are several times louder than the show. Have to change volume all the time. Again, marketing a-holes.

[presto]

I've always wondered why they are allowed to scrunch the credits to one side and use the resulting space for promotion. Aren't the credits part of the deal for the actors and crew?

[FOO]

I have taken to pasting a big black blob over the whole animated
ad area during the ad. Looks bad but at least it doesn't move.

[Dragonsf]

Looks like, we need an animated logoaway filter!

[Gazorgan]

The cartoon network/ Nicolodean are the worst for doing it. The problem arises when the kids don't realize it's a commercial, and that's a bad thing. I mean the network logo in the bottom right is a pain, and the TVG logo in the top left is alos a pain (but it goes away).

A lot of cutting and editing can clean it up.

I have found that re-runs at non-peak times often don't have the extra crapola. Avoid the 6-9 AM and 4-9 PM time slots. Look for Saturday/Sunday re-runs.

[SatStorm]

Yeap, same story here in Europe!

It started about 2 years ago with the UK MTV channels, now this is on any kind of channel all over Europe.
Animated logos or big logos on the top of any transmission, "informing" for specific prime time shows are the most usual. SMS messages in the bottom of the screen are also very usual

Cartoon Network France (the best CN version currently in Europe) had this "Clone Wars" crap for about a week, covering about 1/4 of the total screen!!!!

With MTV/VH1 and almost all the european music channels, the situation is even more bad! The thematic MTV channels for examples, most of the time are unwatchable. Just imagine: In the top left, 3 - 4 lines of text, informing for a later show (like jackass, osborns, etc...). In the top right a huge animated logo, showing MTV and morphing effects of anything you can imagine. Then, the whole bottom of the screen, are ...SMS messages.

The most extreme example, is the german music channel called "Viva plus". Have you ever watched Bloomberg? Well, imagine something like that, but with music videos! The terror I tell you, the terror....

Personally, I don't have a problem with a good looking TV logo. But I hate pop ups, animation logos, "information" text, SMS messages, etc, on the screen. Expecially when I pay subscription for TV channels...
If those channels wish to make me stop pay for them, then there are in the right way. The UK MTV channels are first in my list, after all, I can easily watch the FTA German or Italian ones...

The movie channels from the other hand, don't have this kind of problems. Most of them simply have a small logo and that's it. Thank God I say!

[Dragonsf]

If the TV stations have to transmit such things, they should do it only in the blacks bars on top or bottom of the screen!

[SatStorm]

Here is an example. The picture start full screen, then goes like the following picture and then return full screen (just for the end credits).

[FOO]

I thik they should put them in the Vertical Retrace Interval

[SatStorm]

Also look this ... How to watch a music channel like this?
Also another reason why 352 x 288 is a usefull framesize in Europe...

[overloaded_ide]

Nice picture SatStorm, but are you sure that's a MUSIC channel?

That's another reason I don't PAY for TV! I don't watch TV anymore.
I watch tapes, DVDs and so forth but not "normal" TV.

If I am visting a friend or have access to an Antenna "free source" TV fine, But I am not Stupid enough to pay for commercails, logos, and all this other garbage! They can keep the $40 and up services and all thier crap, and I will keep my money too!

This is how WE can effect the quality of tv. STOP BUYING IT! Just like the RIAA crap, I don't buy CDs anymore either unless I am buying used or closeouts etc... Not normal retail ones though.

If enough consumers would wake up and realize we CAN live without the Crap, then they would stop shoving so much shit at us! As long as people are so dumb as to buy the stuff they hate, then it is an incentive for them to shove more shit at you.

Same now with DVDs. I won't buy the new disks anymore except on rare ocasions. I can live without Lord of The Ring 3 for 3-4 months after it is released! Then I will buy the extra specail new footage directors cut or what ever edition they put out then. Or I'll buy the first one that the priced has dropped one by then. No way I will buy it 2 or 3 times, and I don't plan to get ripped off again! There is no such thing as NEW EXTRA footage or scenes, it is either part of the movie or it is not! If it is part of the movie then I was ripped off when I bought they movie and did not get that 30 minutes, if it was not part of the movie then they are lying and trying to ripp me off for something that does not belong!

People need to wake up, BOYCOT the crap! We stop buying or watching and they WILL loose money and someday either straighten up or go under! Either is fine with me, I can live with out it, so can everyone else!

If not, then they need to get a life!!!

[trossin]

Send a message. Cancel your cable or satelite service. Don't pay for ads. Use the money you save to rent/buy DVDs. The suckers in Colorado are paying $40/month for this crap and the cable pigs are raising the rates another 10%.

Lucky for me I can bet my local stations for free through the air.

[verchad]

I also hate it when they put the animated adds in shows. Disney channel does this too. Okay, I kind of like Stitch rolling around the screen and my daughter gets a big kick out of him. I think it's an easy way for them to prevent some people from recording a "perfect" copy of a program and transferring it to DVD.

As for the smashing the credits to show ads, I also thought it was some kind of agreement that the credits had to be shown. It might not be specified how big they have to be. It makes it harder if you liked an actor or song to find out who/what it was. Also, some networks show those credits at warp speed to get more space for ads. My wife likes the ABC soap operas, I'll admit I watch them too sometimes, we tivo them. I have noticed recently that they are getting around the credit problem. They now run credits in the lower corner of the first few minutes of an episode.

[FOO]

Soaps need to have animated credits on 100% of the screen
with a 100% black rectangle on top of that

[SLICK RICK]

I am with overloaded_ide, I dont have cable because I like to watch dvd's and dont really care for alot of the other things that are showed on cable. The only reason I watch tv other than watching a dvd is to see the news.

SLICK RICK

[lordsmurf]

This is the one animated logo that pissed me off most. It has happened a lot this month, but this ended up on my final DVD of the show:

Note the filename. 8)
http://www.lordsmurf.com/samples/video/fuckyoucartoonnetwork.mpg

My server does NOT stream video, so it's best to right-click on the link then save to your hard drive (or desktop) for viewing. Otherwise, it'll be choppy playback.

This is a clip I quickly squeezed down to 320x240 500k MPEG-1 for web viewing and small filesize.

[FOO]

If you have lots of time on your hands you could split it into
pictures and fix each one.

I actually did that once. Took over an hour

[FOO]

Speaking of cable pigs, anybody seen the latest Dish network
commercial ?

[SLICK RICK]

Foo,

What's that one about?

SLICK RICK

[lordsmurf]

If you have lots of time on your hands you could split it into
pictures and fix each one.

I actually did that once. Took over an hour

How to I get rid of the R2D2 and light saber noise that overtakes the show's audio?

[FOO]

rick , It has a real pig with "cable company" written on it
that runs around the house stealing the silverware, jewelry , etc.

smurf . I didn't know they screwed the audio too . that's harder

edit: I got it. you get about ten clips with the light sabre noise
and run a correlation on it to identify the common noise
and then subtract that from each. possible but not sane.

[SLICK RICK]

It has a real pig with "cable company" written on it

Sounds appropriate.

SLICK RICK

[vhelp]

@ satstorm pal,

I don't envey you, but I sure do understand you

I agree w/ all you guys. This is the nonsense I've ben complaining about
for years too

I would really like to know why they do this. I mean, what is the TRUE
intent or goal of all these:
* logos
* pop-up adds
* pop-up shows to follow etc etc

I don't get it. Don't they know that this crap annoy's the hell out of us all,
including those "oblivioius" to the nonsense!!

Yeah, I've ben limiting myself also, in watching much tv these days. Even
though I have Satellite, I am leaning towards getting rid of it, because all
I'm doing is actually paying for those adds/pop-ups etc, specially when I'm
not even home, or watching tv (even if I'm home, like right now, tv has not
ben on since I got home 3 hours ago, which in tipicle house holes, a tv would
be THE FIRST thing turned on

I agree, that Attenna is the way to go, (if you can get at least more than
3 decent channels coming in clear. I'm easy. I'll watch The Nanny any time
hmm.., in fact, THAT IS what I used to watch, when I had my Attenna up
and running (rabbit ears w/ amp) those were the good old days. I used to
love watching The Nanny, when I came home from work. It used to come
on twice in evening, and twice at 11pm. Those were the good old days,
well like 3 plus years ago anyways.

Hay, but I usually just watch Nick@Night, and thats not to bad. These are
just old tv shows, and on after 9pm anyways. Not many people up after 9pm
I guess, so at the moment, they aren't sweat'n the logos/adds/pop-up thing
yet. But, I don't mind (care much) if they have the N@N logo they paster
at the bottom. It's respectible/tastful.

Perhaps logos and their spin-off's were good when they first came out.. like,
"wow" .."that's way cool".
.
.
But, today, get that crap off the air. It's not "cool" anymores.

-vhelp 2127

[mysticgohan17]

* logos
* pop-up adds
* pop-up shows to follow etc etc

Turning television into the internet ...

[solarfox]

This is how WE can effect the quality of tv. STOP BUYING IT! Just like the RIAA crap,

Except that, just like the RIAA, they will simply refuse to believe that there is anything wrong with their product, and will refuse to comprehend that their tactics are actively pissing off their customers. They will, instead, merely insist that the drop in sales / viewership must be due to all these eeeeeeevil technological innovations that let those eeeeeeevil internet geeks steal their work, and use it as further proof that they need ironclad DRM restrictions to lock down and control your computers, TV sets, VCRs, TiVO's, etc.

[vhelp]

@ solofox,

They will, instead, merely insist that the drop in sales / viewership must be due to all these eeeeeeevil technological innovations that let those eeeeeeevil internet geeks steal their work, and use it as further proof that they need ironclad DRM restrictions to lock down and control your computers, TV sets, VCRs, TiVO's, etc.

Exactly !!

This is the sort of "tactics" that is practiced at my job. Only problem though,
is that it is happening to me -me being cut off to all my good points
These peoples are cunning. They go for the throught, as long as they can
pusway those over them, that it'll make them (bring them) revenue $$

-vhelp

[SatStorm]

@overloaded_ide: Yes, it is a typical music channel, it is called viva plus. Most of the current European music videos could be easily forbitten in US. They also use to cencore them (by bluring some scenes or adding sounds) in UK, a country which happens and have it's own music star system (you know, boy / girl bands, Brit Pop, etc, stuff never really popular around Europe...) for internal use.
To understand how different the situation is here from there, just read this: The basic VJ on the MTV Spain, is a transvestit called "Deborah Obres"! Yes, you read right: A transvestit. And "s"he is very popular there...

On most european videos, nudism, sex, erotism, drag use, homos, etc are not forbitten TV subjects like in most UK/US. Expecially for music, the lyrics are most of the time nasty, since english is a foreign language for anyone here.

I won't forget an example this summer: I'm on a Greek beach somewhere close to Athens, and us you probably know, the near sea beach bars are very common here. Those beach bars (imagine them like pool bars on Hotels in a way...), have - of course - very loud the music, which by tradition is dance or reggae. You know, that Hellas has plenty tourists from Europe and UK. So, what's the story: There are British families, French Families, some Scandinavians, Italians, Germans, etc and also plenty Greeks taking there seabath, listening to the music. Babies, teenagers, etc.
The DJ of a bar, was testing his new CDs (it is early afternoon), which by tradition are summer compilations of various hits. Well, some of those songs was from New York Garage House Clubs, made for US Gay listeners.
It is amazing: Ten minutes later, all the Brits (by holding the ears of their children!) run away fast, while the French start dancing, Germans start dringing bears, all the Scandinavians girls (all ages, some 50 years plus or someting...) turn topless, Italians start laughing and do nasty commets for the topless girls and we Greeks continue doing our thing us usuall, since we all know the specific songs, but we don't know that they are gay. For us is simply another summer dance hits!
This story as an example of what is happening in Europe for those matters.

Back to our subject, TV in Europe is much less cencored on all terms, than in US/ UK.
For example, the well known cartoon series South Park in Sweden airs 16.30 daily from a channel called TV4, a typical terrestrial channel. Simpsons are in the noon and the afternoon hours on plenty European channels.
There are also plenty Free To Air (FTA) porn channels on commercial satellites to watch. Just to get the picture, Playboy-like TV material is daily softcore here, while the evening we have real porn to watch! Porn is so common in Europe, I learned the names of the bigest pornstars by simply doing late night zapping on FTA channels. Of course, that happens in Europe, not UK.

Anyway, this turned of topic, so back to the "logos" issue:

The situation gonna soon change in Europe. I think a new law is concidered in E.U. for prohibit pop up messages and advertisment logos, of any kind (including the "later on our channel, the "X' show" type ones, very common on Viacom and Turner channels..)
Already some channels stop doing it, but the big ones, US controlled, no.
Example: MTV/VH1.
And then, those channels wonders why they have less and less success the last 2 years.... Oh yeah, the pirated CDs to blame...

[PolarBearWY]

Send a message. Cancel your cable or satelite service. Don't pay for ads.

Unfortunately, that wouldn't do a darn thing.

Dish Network has millions of customers.
DirecTV has millions more.
Cable companies have ten times the customers that satellite companies have.

You think anyone would notice if you cancelled your subscription?
You think anyone would notice if the 1000 people on this site cancelled?

No.

The only way we could get it to work was if (together) we all raised several million dollars and bought a minute of air time during the Super Bowl. Then we could ask the entire nation to cut their subsciptions at the same time until the TV networks got the message. If no one is watching the shows, then no one is watching the commercials, and that's where the real attention would be drawn from. Budweiser, Toyota, Kraft, etc. You'd better believe they would be talking to the networks about things if the entire nation made a statement.

If 2 million Dish Network customers all cut their subscriptions to the "vacation setting" at the same time, someone would notice.
If 5 million DirecTV customers did the same thing, someone would notice.
If 50 million cable TV subscribers did the same thing, someone would notice.

That would be the only way to get the networks to stop interrupting our shows.

[FulciLives]

Send a message. Cancel your cable or satelite service. Don't pay for ads.

Unfortunately, that wouldn't do a darn thing.

Dish Network has millions of customers.
DirecTV has millions more.
Cable companies have ten times the customers that satellite companies have.

You think anyone would notice if you cancelled your subscription?
You think anyone would notice if the 1000 people on this site cancelled?

No.

The only way we could get it to work was if (together) we all raised several million dollars and bought a minute of air time during the Super Bowl. Then we could ask the entire nation to cut their subsciptions at the same time until the TV networks got the message. If no one is watching the shows, then no one is watching the commercials, and that's where the real attention would be drawn from. Budweiser, Toyota, Kraft, etc. You'd better believe they would be talking to the networks about things if the entire nation made a statement.

If 2 million Dish Network customers all cut their subscriptions to the "vacation setting" at the same time, someone would notice.
If 5 million DirecTV customers did the same thing, someone would notice.
If 50 million cable TV subscribers did the same thing, someone would notice.

That would be the only way to get the networks to stop interrupting our shows.

As Captian Kirk said to a bearded Spock in the classic MIRROR, MIRROR episode of the Original STAR TREK TV series ...

"In every revolution, there is one man with a vision."

He also says, "One man cannot summon the future. But one man can change the present."

Things don't change over night. But if we all do what we can then eventually it will add up.

- John "FulciLives" coleman