Why do I have to watch commercials when I use Comcast On Demand?

[Duer 157099]

This has bugged me since they started doing it, but it is really getting worse. It used to be maybe one or just a few commercials, but now there can be a dozen in a row. And when using On Demand, there is limited ability to fast-forward through them.

Why, when I am already paying a humongous cable bill, do I also have to see commercials in my "premium content"?

I'd be pissed as hell if DU did something like that where even if you had a star, you STILL had to see all the ads.

Why does Comcast get away with it? (I know, because I pay them to, I know.)

[leftstreet]

1. Because Comcast doesn't fear its competitors n/t

[msongs]

2. cable tv is about selling ads. programming is just there to lure you in nt

[onenote]

3. Because the creators/owners of the content demand that it be that way

Ad-free video content is more expensive than ad-supported content. Its really that simple.

Buy an ad-free on-demand movie? You can fast forward, rewind, do pretty much you want. Of course, it costs you around $5.00 on average.
Watch an ad-supported on demand television show? Limits on what you can do, but much cheaper.

[Fumesucker]

4. Two words..

Bit

Torrent

:evilgrin:

[StandingInLeftField]

5. Who else is old enough to remember...

that subscription cable would mean "no more commercials, EH-VAR!!!111)

[HopeHoops]

8. Yeah, I remember that. And MTV also meant "Music TV" and was 24x7 music videos.

Damn, that was a LOOOOOONNNGGGG time ago.

[ArcticFox]

11. That was the promise

Upon reflection, how many promises to us do those in power actually keep?

[onenote]

13. I'm old enough and I never remember that promise

I remember cable when it started as Community Antenna TV service, retransmitting broadcast stations from an antenna mounted on a mountain top, with all the commercials intact. Then they added HBO in the mid 1970s, which offered movies without commercials and a few other pay movie channels, such as Showtime and Cinemax came along. Not long after HBO became a full time satellite-delivered network, it was joined by TBS and Christian Broadcast Network and the race was on. By the late 1970s and early 80s you had new ad supported networks popping up all over: CNN, ESPN, etc. etc.

HBO was promised to be ad free and, if you don't count its endless promotional interstitials for itself, that's still the case.

Of course, I also remember when public television was ad free-- there still aren't ads during the programs but the acknowledgements of contributions from sponsors are looking more and more like ads.

[HopeHoops]

6. Comcast is evil.

Call up and tell them you're canceling the service because (whatever competition is available, DISH, Verizon FiOS, whatever) gave you a MUCH better deal. You'll spend an hour being bounced around and put on hold, but if you hold your grounds they will give you a better deal. I gave up TV 30 years ago, but I've used that technique with the phone and internet companies many times - it works. I was one of the original customers for DSL in our area and I'm STILL paying the same amount for it that I did 11 years ago - I demanded that. I've got a deal so sweet with our cell phones that when I interrupt the sales reps from my own or another company and state the terms they all just say, "wow. That's better than what I have and I can't beat it."

Don't take shit from them.

[ArcticFox]

7. Verizon fios does the same thing.

It was the final nail in their coffin as far a I was concerned. The programming is so terrible too. Why pay $50 a month for that pure propaganda?

[Bonhomme Richard]

9. LOL, I remember when there were no commercial at all on cable.

That's how you were sold to get the hook up.

[onenote]

15. What was on your cable service?

If it was in the 60s, it was probably nothing but retransmitted broadcast stations, with commercials.
For a couple of years in the mid/late 1970s you might have gotten one or two commercial free "premium" channels like HBO or Showtime. But by 1980, ad supported networks were proliferating. So cable was never really "commercial free". Indeed, within the industry back in the early 80s it was sometimes joked that the industry's motto could be "Cable TV: old shows, new commercials".

[sharp_stick]

10. Because it's a feature

it's not premium content. It's "bonus content" given to you because your premium content happens to be the digital cable box you are legally unable to purchase so Comcast "offers" it to you for a fee.

This has driven me nuts for a long time too, they keep jacking up the bill and making it less useful. I also just shitcanned Hulu-Plus because of the same thing.

As far as the damned forced rental box, I get even a bit by returning the damned remote whenever one of the buttons becomes a little too worn out to read. Once I returned the remote because a kiddo smeared honey on it and I didn't want to be bothered cleaning it off. I go through 3 or 4 remotes a year.

[eleny]

12. I use On Demand a lot and always fast forward through the ads

It's a pain in the ass but I never ran into limits on the ability to do it. We must be watching different programs. I mostly watch movies that have no ads or The History Channel and HGTV shows.

What I'd love to be able to do is get movies off the dvr and onto dvd since the dvr space is so limited. :evilgrin:

[Codeine]

14. Because your cable box doesn't have a free Adblocker download I guess. nt

[fishwax]

16. I can fast forward for shows from almost all channels but Fox

All Fox programs that I've watched on OnDemand have disabled the fast forward. I assume that must be a requirement Fox puts on Comcast in order to be able to stream their content.

For programs from all other channels (that I can think of off-hand, anyway) I've been always been able to fast forward.

I've also noticed that (excluding Fox programs) the first week or so that an episode is available on OnDemand it includes basically all the commercials from the broadcast of that show. But older episodes include fewer commercials--usually just one product commercial and one network promo per commercial break. Programs on FX OnDemand tend to have more promos for other shows than do other networks.

[Taverner]

17. I would like to know what Ad companies plan to do, with everyone FFing the ads...

They need to make them more slogan-centric, with a visual that doesn't fade away immediately.

That way they can sustain their message through the speed.

[ecstatic]

18. FOX on demand is awful

They show a full set of commercials and you can't fast forward! Not only that, but they remove the show after 3 days or so! Ridiculous! With ABC you can't fast forward, but at least any ads are kept to a minimum.