Animated Banner Ads On Television Shows (A Rant)

[arwalden]

Okay... I've had it!

I thought I could live with (ignore) the static text that the networks would overlay on screen during the show or movie---usually just after a commercial break.

Semi-annoying, but tolerable. It was plain text, self-promotion, letting the viewer know what show was coming up next.

Now... NOW the overlayed banner ad has GROWN to be as large as 1/2 of the screen. NOW they are animated! Very very annoying and distracting.

At least these superfluous banner ads are still limited to network self-promotion. BUT, MARK MY WORDS... the day is coming---very soon now---that these animated overlayed banner ads will be used for the show's sponsors as well.

In the bottom right corner of the screen is the logo for the Sci-Fi channel, History Channel, Science Channel, etc. One day soon, you'll see the logo for the show's sponsor overlayed in the upper left corner as well.

Oh! I know... how about if the networks simply had ticker-tape commercials running across the bottom of the screen 24 hours a day.

Am I too much of a purist? Am I expecting too much?

-- Allen (thanks for listening)

[soupkitchen]

1. You're right: They'll take it as far as they can

It's the price to be paid for "free" TV. So one's only options will be to turn off the set or be willing to pay for TV. Of course, once they get people paying for TV they'll start using the same technology on those programs too.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

2. Those annoy me as well

I wish we could just have an ad free zone someplace in our lives.
These annoy me as much as the crawl on the bottom of the screens on the news shows.

[RC]

3. I don't know what you are talking about.

But then I don't watch tv. My intertainment is the net. So much more mindless drivel, so little time.

[MojoKrunch]

4. No way, dude, I agree 100%.

I can barely watch TV these days without being annoyed by their freaking logos.

Didja happen to catch the AOL animated logo thingy during last weekends NFL games?
That little yellow line they put down to show the first down?
They animated the AOL guy running down the line and the AOL logo popping out of it.
I almost spit at the TV when I saw it.

Why not just force all of the teams to wear chromacolor uniforms and then key in sponsors logos and get it over with?

We *KNOW* it is all for sale.
Why keep pretending?

Mojo

[Rowdyboy]

5. You're absolutely right

and its only going to get worse. I think, eventually, it will become too irritating to bother with entirely.

Can't you asses give me five minutes without trying to sell me something! And news networks are WORSE! How many freaking times have I caught the last word or two of a "trailer" news item across the bottom of the screen and had no idea what the story was about. I don't need to read news and hear other news at the same time. It makes my brain hurt.

[arwalden]

6. And While We're On The Subject.... "SQUEEZE-CREDITS" Bug Me Too!

I, for one... actually READ THE CREDITS.

I want to read and see who the bit-part actors are. I want to read to find out the name of that background song that I heard during the show.

Was the music written and composed by Danny Elfman or someone who's imitating his style? I want to know these things.

But the half-screen or quarter-screen "squeeze-credits" prevent me from being able to read them. All so that they can show a self-serving promo commercial.

Why do they even BOTHER with the credits in the first place? Why not just end the movie at the "The End" equivalent and go on to the next commercial?

-- Allen

P.S. Whatever happened to the words "The End" appearing on screen at the end of the movie? I liked that.

[Rowdyboy]

9. I'd like to know who the guest voices are

sometimes on Frazier or the Simpsons. Like you, I'm often interested in the character actors and musical artists, but there's no time for that-we must show you 20 seconds worth of the show thats coming up in the next 2 minutes.

Don't even get me started on the "brilliant" concept of taking the only 2 or 3 clever or funny scenes from an upcoming show and playing them in advance-over and over and over and over....Are people really so stupid as to require this?

Pisses me off to no end!

[Ecotopian]

7. GOT BOOKS? KILL YOUR TV!

A purist! HA! You're a wannabe purist! LOL!

But seriously, if you don't like how TV is changing, then turn it off. I probably watch no more than 5 hours of TV per week (all of it is watching PBS documentaries and NOW with Bill Moyers). I've been so turned off by the corporate media that I've decided to get back at them by turning them off. Get your news from a wide variety of sources, from everything from your local to international news. You'll end up with a less filtered more informative news feed into the world around you.

As for entertainment, that's what DU is for! It's also nice to entertain yourself by reading history and philosophy books from a wide variety of eras and cultures.

[arwalden]

8. I Should Have Said "Videophile Purist"... The True Purist Would Be...

... reading. You make an excellent point. Very true.

-- Allen

[cosmicdot]

10. crawl space & data smog - X-treme TV

what? I can't hear or see you?





http://www.poynter.org/dg.lts/id.3722/content.content_view.htm