Post by dkennedy on Apr 18, 2005 4:58:41 GMT -5
TV network executives learn how to foil TiVo
April 18, 2005
BY JOHN SMYNTEK
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Just when the vagaries of recording TV shows for later viewing were simplified by digitally smart units like TiVo and other digital video recording brands, network executives have found a way around it.
Hard-core delayed viewing junkies have been noticing -- to their chagrin -- that the major networks are starting some of their most popular shows a few minutes past the traditional starting times at the top and (sometimes) bottom of hours. That requires DVR users to indulge in detailed custom programming that defeats the relatively mindless simple operations the units were designed for.
Why is this happening?
Networks want to keep viewers from changing networks after a popular show, hoping the power of the first (or lead-in) show rubs off on the ratings of the second. They also think that making recordings of a show on a different network more difficult than usual might thwart audience exodus.
Networks want to avoid losing viewers when the show content ends. Jeff Bader, executive vice president of ABC Entertainment explained that most drama shows would conclude, "go to commercial break and go to credits. And viewers would leave," often channel surfing for something somewhere else.
By reconfiguring commercial breaks, shows now end with the plot conclusion, the credits, then the next show without commercial interruption. The traditional commercial breaks at about :28 and :58 have been reassigned within the shows, rather than at the end. That largely eliminates the opportunity to see what's on elsewhere.
Networks want to make it difficult to record two or three shows on different networks consecutively without going to multiple TiVo units (an expensive proposition) or manually tweaking the programming software to miss the first few minutes of the second or third show. Again, if the hurdle is high enough, the viewers will stay put.
That makes moving from, say, ABC's "Lost" from 8-9 p.m. Wednesday to "American Idol" on Fox at 9 p.m. more difficult than it should be when one show ended exactly at 9 p.m. and the other started a few seconds later on another channel.
Said Bader with all the joviality he could muster, "I can't be responsible for making it easy for people to record three different shows on three different networks."
Bader insisted that most of the inquiries on this issue come from media and that viewers with TiVo have adjusted to the network time kink. "We let TiVo know exactly when our shows end. The TiVo will go to the end of our show." Right -- but without manual tweaking, it is tougher to record the next show on another network.
On TiVo community forums, www.tivocommunity.com, one posting expresses the frustration.
"d**n ABC programs go a minute over! Can anyone help?"
Indeed, several postings in the TiVo Help Center explain strategies and directions for "padding" or making network switches without losing a pivotal plot ending. However, the opening moments of the next show are almost always a casualty.
And then there's throwing money -- and more TiVo units -- at the problem. Forum member Aaronwt proclaims: "The solution is to get another TiVo! Two tuners isn't enough to record without conflicts for me." Chimes in another correspondent: "I have three Tivo 6 Tuners ... and my HD Tivo is on the way."
Now that's TV watching...
TIPS FOR TiVo USERS
These Web sites also have discussions of strategies for handling off-time network starts for TiVo users:
www.cnet.com/ 4520-6033_1- 5720746-1.html
ask.pvrblog.com/ 2004/11/ lost_west_wing_.html
engadget.com/ entry/ 1234000527022421/
weblogs.jupiterresearch.com/ analysts/gartenberg/ archives/004042.html
JOHN SMYNTEK can be contacted at 313-222-5169 and smyntek@freepress.com.
April 18, 2005
BY JOHN SMYNTEK
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Just when the vagaries of recording TV shows for later viewing were simplified by digitally smart units like TiVo and other digital video recording brands, network executives have found a way around it.
Hard-core delayed viewing junkies have been noticing -- to their chagrin -- that the major networks are starting some of their most popular shows a few minutes past the traditional starting times at the top and (sometimes) bottom of hours. That requires DVR users to indulge in detailed custom programming that defeats the relatively mindless simple operations the units were designed for.
Why is this happening?
Networks want to keep viewers from changing networks after a popular show, hoping the power of the first (or lead-in) show rubs off on the ratings of the second. They also think that making recordings of a show on a different network more difficult than usual might thwart audience exodus.
Networks want to avoid losing viewers when the show content ends. Jeff Bader, executive vice president of ABC Entertainment explained that most drama shows would conclude, "go to commercial break and go to credits. And viewers would leave," often channel surfing for something somewhere else.
By reconfiguring commercial breaks, shows now end with the plot conclusion, the credits, then the next show without commercial interruption. The traditional commercial breaks at about :28 and :58 have been reassigned within the shows, rather than at the end. That largely eliminates the opportunity to see what's on elsewhere.
Networks want to make it difficult to record two or three shows on different networks consecutively without going to multiple TiVo units (an expensive proposition) or manually tweaking the programming software to miss the first few minutes of the second or third show. Again, if the hurdle is high enough, the viewers will stay put.
That makes moving from, say, ABC's "Lost" from 8-9 p.m. Wednesday to "American Idol" on Fox at 9 p.m. more difficult than it should be when one show ended exactly at 9 p.m. and the other started a few seconds later on another channel.
Said Bader with all the joviality he could muster, "I can't be responsible for making it easy for people to record three different shows on three different networks."
Bader insisted that most of the inquiries on this issue come from media and that viewers with TiVo have adjusted to the network time kink. "We let TiVo know exactly when our shows end. The TiVo will go to the end of our show." Right -- but without manual tweaking, it is tougher to record the next show on another network.
On TiVo community forums, www.tivocommunity.com, one posting expresses the frustration.
"d**n ABC programs go a minute over! Can anyone help?"
Indeed, several postings in the TiVo Help Center explain strategies and directions for "padding" or making network switches without losing a pivotal plot ending. However, the opening moments of the next show are almost always a casualty.
And then there's throwing money -- and more TiVo units -- at the problem. Forum member Aaronwt proclaims: "The solution is to get another TiVo! Two tuners isn't enough to record without conflicts for me." Chimes in another correspondent: "I have three Tivo 6 Tuners ... and my HD Tivo is on the way."
Now that's TV watching...
TIPS FOR TiVo USERS
These Web sites also have discussions of strategies for handling off-time network starts for TiVo users:
www.cnet.com/ 4520-6033_1- 5720746-1.html
ask.pvrblog.com/ 2004/11/ lost_west_wing_.html
engadget.com/ entry/ 1234000527022421/
weblogs.jupiterresearch.com/ analysts/gartenberg/ archives/004042.html
JOHN SMYNTEK can be contacted at 313-222-5169 and smyntek@freepress.com.