Dear ABC, You Don't Compete With TiVo By Making A Product Worse
from the just-a-suggestion dept
About a year and a half ago, an executive at Disney-owned ABC-TV talked about how the network was experimenting with ways to block people from fast forwarding through commercials. The exec in question even claimed that commercial-skipping wasn't even a very important feature for most DVR-owners. Despite the widespread criticism of this statement, it appears that ABC is now preparing to test that theory. In association with cable company Cox, it's testing a new video-on-demand feature that won't let viewers fast forward through commercials. We'll be the first to say it: this is dumb. While it may make a few more people watch commercials, it won't make them happy about it. And, given just how many other options there are these days, the end result might be that people just choose not to watch such ABC programming at all, let alone the commercials.Yet various ABC executives seem to think that by offering this product, they can stop people from buying DVRs. Anne Sweeney, the president of the Disney-ABC television group, claims: "You don't need TiVo if you have fast-forward-disabled video on demand. It gives you the same opportunity to catch up to your favorite shows." Not quite. First of all, you're limited to shows on ABC. Second, who knows if the additional features are as useful. Finally, one of the nice things about TiVo (oh, right!) is that it lets you watch a 30-minute show in 22-minutes, since you can skip the commercials (whoops). So, yes, many people will still want a TiVo because ABC is forcing the fast forward option to be disabled.
Then there's Ray Cole, who owns some ABC affiliates. He says: "As network and affiliates, we both have an interest in slowing down the explosive growth of DVRs. This is about combating DVRs. As we developed this at every stage, there was an agreement that however we put this together, disabling the fast-forward function was key." I'm curious as to how Mr. Cole thinks offering a product that does much less and deliberately takes away a key feature will "slow down" the "explosive growth of DVRs." You don't compete by offering a worse product. You compete by offering a better product. Taking away one of the key selling points of a product is not exactly a major selling point.
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Filed Under: commercials, dvrs, fast forward
Companies: abc, cox
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They can't force you to watch...
Just because a commercial is present doesn't mean people will care to pay attention to it.
The real way to deal with this is what NBC is doing with their online videos. NBC reduces commercials to three over a 1 hour show, each 30 seconds or less with a counter telling you when it's over. We still mute it, but it's short enough not to be annoying.
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Re: They can't force you to watch...
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Re: Re: They can't force you to watch...
Do you realize how ratings work? Nielsen ratings is a generic number of a few selected people that are given a separate box that monitors what they watch. Television networks ARE NOT able to tell what everybody is watching at the same time. Even if they were they could still tell if you were watching a certain show because you still have to record it to the hard drive of your tivo.
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Re: Re: They can't force you to watch...
"Nielsen Television Ratings are gathered by one of two ways; by extensive use of surveys, where viewers of various demographics are asked to keep a written record (called a diary) of the television programming they watch throughout the day and evening, or by the use of Set Meters, which are small devices connected to every television in selected homes. These devices gather the viewing habits of the home and transmit the information nightly to Nielsen through a "Home Unit" connected to a phone line. Set Meter information allows market researchers to study television viewing habits on a minute to minute basis, seeing the exact moment viewers change channels or turn off their TV. In addition to this technology, the implementation of individual viewer reporting devices (called people meters) allow the company to separate household viewing information into various demographic groups. In 2005, Nielsen began measuring the usage of digital video recordings (TiVo, for example) and initial results indicate that time-shifted viewing will have a significant impact on television ratings. The networks are not yet figuring these new results into their ad rates at the resistance of advertisers"
So yes they are also able to see what people are Tivoing too.
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Re: They can't force you to watch...
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Re: They can't force you to watch...
It's a great feature, you'll love it!
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And as a consumer, I have an interest in being able to do watch whatever I want whenever I want. On-demand is great. I can watch episodes of Brotherhood and Stargate: Atlantis at times that suit me not the networks.
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Where is the free business model here? Will everything end up like HBO and pay TV?
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Re:
Why can I tell you that? Because of HOW they did it. The movie was shown with a single 15 minute intermission. During which time the *entire* screen was just a black backing with the blue Ford oval. No sound, no annoying announcers, no nothing.
Partly this was due to the serious subject matter. But also that this was a very effective (and understated) way of doing advertising.
It worked, I still remember it 10 years later.
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Re:
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Re: the pay model
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No ones knows how they'll support it because they've never been forced to rethink their antiquated business models.
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If you do not watch the commercials, you are stealing TV.
You will be caught and you will pay.
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Fast forward 30 years. Government intervention has increased my rates 5X higher, I am forced to watch crappy cable shows that put 5 mins of commercial every 12 mins and am forced into packages of channels 95% of which I NEVER watch.
Yet another example of why when business and government regulators agree on anything it's WE THE PEOPLE that get screwed.
Free market economies work, the government created and subsidized monopolies do not.
Time for a REVOLUTION!
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Re:
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That said, those who use this On Demand are not folks who would have bought a DVR anyway, so you're not really slowing down the adoption of DVRs.
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Re:
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Its not the commercials
The garden variety of commercials are insulting to anyone to with a bit of a brain. They are stupid, lame, incoherent and not entertaining at all. So, why spend your valuable time watching something that serves no purpose at all?
The newest generation of commercials know this and are using storytelling and other hooks to get the eyeballs to stay on target. ABC is not one of them by all accounts.
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Re: Re:
I fast forward past stupid people..
>I see stupid people.
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Wait until they disable the Mute button
Long Live TiVo!
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VCR
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Re: VCR
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it doesn't block tivo
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When Government regulators determine "a market" instead of the business and it's customers we have a failed system.
BTW all you TiVO fools, what happened to Replay TV? Hint: it has to do with Government regulated patent office...
Just askin....
Once again it's time for a REVOLUTION simpletons like AC be damned...
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Re: What?!
As for Replay TV, if they couldn't make it, then something was wrong with THEM... like the box was expensive, bundled with a lifetime service fee to an unproven company, in a day when the average Joe didn't know what a DVR was and NOBODY knew if the company would be around in a year. Tivo started out with service fees as OPTIONAL, and obviously had the better business model. To blame it on the PTO ignores the FACT that there are plenty of other DVRs out there, PC based, cable-box integrated, etc, including Microsoft's Media Center. You can't argue that there's a better target for a lawsuit than MS, so your argument is just plain wrong.
Now, about a "revolution"... If you think fast forwarding through commercials is worth a revolution, then fine, but You haven't produced any evidence that you've thought it through any further than that. I'm as big of an "anti big government" guy as they come, and yes, I've got my Ron Paul stickers on my car, but to rant about a revolution because you've got to watch commercials during your favorite "Punky Brewster" reruns is just insane.
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Let me tell you, I have a DVR, and sometimes I stop to look at commercials such as "Price Line Negotiator", "Blizzard Night Elf Mohawk", and "eSurance - the regular characters in action sequences - not that terrible customer gets turned into a toon crap". But stupid ones like the "starter family Lean Pockets" get an immediate pass.
Stop being lazy and milking the commercial cash cow, accepting anything that passes FCC codes. Get a committee of target demographic people and let them yea or nay various commercials. Start making ad agencies earn their buck on more than just Superbowl ads.
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HAH
What am I an idiot? You're going to TRICK me into watching commercials?
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You rethink the model
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Actually, other than Heroes and Lost, what has been on ABC, CBS, NBC, UPN, FOX in the last ten years that has even been worth watching? I can't recall the last time I thought watched any of those networks, but I know it has been at least ten years.
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I tried ABC's streaming video
Perfect? No. But I'm glad to have the option.
As for what's worth watching on ABC: just Lost and Pushing Daisies :)
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Also
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I too remember when cable TV promised commercial-free programming. But you see, that was just to get us to buy into it. Like anything, eventually people will find a way to advertise on it. If I could pay extra for commercial-free programming I would gladly do it. For now, though, I'm content to buy the DVD of the program and enjoy the show without constant interruption every 10 minutes.
@#4 Anonymous
One thing I will put up with is something like what they did for 24 a couple of seasons where a sponsor bought out the commercial time (I think it was Ford). They had all Ford cars in the show, and showed an extra long commercial before and after the program. Fine, that paid for the show. It's the constant interruption where every 10 minutes I get 3 minutes of commercials that I can't stand.
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maybe
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Re: maybe
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How about Volume?
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maybe by turning them into pay channels, the market will eventually weed most of them out. and people will only subscribe to the ones that produce enough quality shows.
either way, i think just offering all their shows on demand, starting the same time that it airs, for free, even without fastforwarding, is a step in the right direction.
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ABC Vs. Tivo
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Re: ABC Vs. Tivo
i only watch commercials on ABC also.
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It's not like corporations would want you to have cheap cable and be able to skip ads, if it weren't for government intervention. On the contrary, they would do everything in their power to make things as expensive and frustrating as possible whether government existed or not.
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I can usually tell which commercials where shown even while fast forwarding, so maybe they already do something like that.
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ABC drives people to BitTorrent Sites...
The old business model is dead. Time to start thinking of a new way to generate revenue.
I've been using Tivo and PC based alternatives for years now and haven't purposely watched a commercial for years except for the Superbowl (although I must admit that sometimes I forget to fast forward). Frankly, I figured they'd already figured it out as in-show ad-placement is nuts (i.e. American Idol and Coke).
As interactive media (i.e. games and the like) become more and more the norm, TV Shows and Movies will become less appealing.
Freedom
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And government regulation had nothing to do with any of this. And government regulation certainly doesn't have anything to do with why cable bills are so high. It's more the lack of government regulation that's the problem - the fact that government allowed cable companies to become monopolies. The government should have separated the infrastructure from those selling content, but the government didn't do its job and let the cable companies control every part of the business.
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I do watch a new entertaining commercial...once because I was entertained. Seeing it again is boring. How many times have you seen the same commercial two, or more times in the same 5 minute set?
If the broadcasters think that they can stop people from buying DVRs with an offering like this are dumber than they thing that we are.
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That is what advertising is about.
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Not suprising
If I'm watching "The Lion King", sure, I might be interested in watching a trailer for the next animated movie or even the next Disney/ Pixar movie coming to DVD.
But I don't want to see trailers for direct-to-DVD movie crap like "Snow Dogs 3: Caught in the Snow".
And I really don't need to see commercials for the "next great American drama coming this fall to ABC" which will very probably be cancelled by the following January. Does anyone remember "Commander in Chief"?
If I want to watch trailers or commercials, make it an *option*. Maybe my kids want to see the "Snow Dogs" trailer, but don't force me to see it every single frikking time I put the DVD in the player, especially when I want to watch the movie!
The same is true here: if you force people to watch commercials (that they don't want to watch in the first place), then you'll force them to find some way around it: either by hacking the DVR or not buying the unit (good way to increase sales for Cox!) or by not watching ABC (good way to increase viewership!).
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Re: Not suprising
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ABC
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Yeah but...
First off, on some commercials (a la Geiko, GM, etc.) even when fast forwarding, you see a banner add pop up and you hear a "bong".
Secondly, in your folders of saved shows, you can expect to be asked the world's best questions like "Do you wanna save $437 on your insurance" and "Try new Pepsi Clear"... yeah, I made that product up. But when you click on these things, it downloads a video commercial that can last up to five minutes! More new commericial spewing techniques are added to my series2 every day.
You top all this off with the fact that TiVo costs relatively expensive in comparison to some more effective options, plus they have horrible rules about subscription swapping or hardware repair and the customer service is actually more like getting a BJ from your drunk Uncle Frank...whos been dead for ten years...
So yeah, thanks a billion TiVo for letting me fast forward straight into Ronald McDonald's butthole every 20 seconds.
/Sarcastic end.
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Yeah but...
First off, on some commercials (a la Geiko, GM, etc.) even when fast forwarding, you see a banner add pop up and you hear a "bong".
Secondly, in your folders of saved shows, you can expect to be asked the world's best questions like "Do you wanna save $437 on your insurance" and "Try new Pepsi Clear"... yeah, I made that product up. But when you click on these things, it downloads a video commercial that can last up to five minutes! More new commericial spewing techniques are added to my series2 every day.
You top all this off with the fact that TiVo costs relatively expensive in comparison to some more effective options, plus they have horrible rules about subscription swapping or hardware repair and the customer service is actually more like getting a BJ from your drunk Uncle Frank...whos been dead for ten years...
So yeah, thanks a billion TiVo for letting me fast forward straight into Ronald McDonald's butthole every 20 seconds.
/Sarcastic end.
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You can't fix anything by breaking it...
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Why dont they just......
Of course this wont work with the 30 sec jump if you have it enabled.
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TiVo could Save themselves and TV if they just...
- You would not be able to fast forward through those at all.
- Since they only last 30 seconds it is very likely those commercials would be viewed by those on the couch.
- Viewing only four makes you pay more attention.
- Some companies could buy all four spots and air an little mini show over 2 minutes.
You get the idea...
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Some scientists from the World Health Organization (or your CDC) should investigate this mind debilitating decease that is spreading across big media companies. There is much to learn on how things spread on such closed groups.
The most interesting thing, however, is that this is not a problem that is related to the DVR, or the VCR, or the remote control (you used to zap, didn't you?).
Don't you people take leaks in commercials?
Don't you people go to the kitchen to get some snack?
Are these guys morons?
BREATH-TAKING NEWS: tv viewers have been skipping ads from the very first day of tv!!!
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TV executives are not morons, they are just mediocre in their work. They are used to measure their success by companies getting bigger as a result of economy expansion.
Now, the business is changing (because of technology and the ability to measure success), and they don't know what to do because they are mediocre, so they blame the first stupid thing that comes to their mind (like remote's fast forward).
The same blaming did the record companies, telcos when mobile started (but they where able to buy/build mobile operators), oil companies have been pushing to stop alternative energy.
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yep just a bunch of cox
davegrips
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The flaw in ABC's logic…
The problem is that the TV broadcasters have to maintain this fiction that people are watching commercials to the advertisers. Before DVRs it was easier to maintain the fiction that most people watched their commercials. Now DVRs make it painfully clear to those advertisers that we tune out. Sorry, the truth hurts but it will set you free. Make your commercials interesting or don't bother. People are bombarded with commercial messages on every kind of media. We have learned to ignore 99.99% of these messages. In order to break through the massive clutter, the advertiser's commercial message has to be different and compelling. Broadcasters can force commercials upon us, but like the proverbial horse refusing to drink, they can't force us to watch them.
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ABC & COX
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A Modest Proposal
The TV geniuses in the US seem to be caught in their own downward spiral of: "Viewership and ad revenue is down, so we need to insert more ad availabilities to boost revenue, which alienates the viewers, so viewership and ad revenue goes down....."
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Doh!
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Thank God for non-Tivo DVRs
Tivo's marketing model is simple: $10-20/month for recording, or $300+ for lifetime. You wish to know what I pay? $20/YEAR for a schedule only (can still DVR, just convenience). Tivo also is influenced by signals that can shut it down/black it out. Mine is not. I can record and watch it anytime I want, and FF and rewind through commercials. ABC can't stop me from it, nor can NFL.
Long live Archos!
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There are some comments that make me wonder...
Select-Play-Select-3-0-Select. Memorize it, Tivo owners. That will make your forward skip button into a 30 second skip button, at least on the old Tivos. A commercial break comes on, 4 quick button pushes, and you're golden. I honestly don't know if that works on the new Tivos, or if they already have a button for it. They should. By the way, you'll have to reenter that code if the power goes out to the box, so write it down.
As for Comcast DVR remotes, I was a cable guy until two years ago, and this remote hack worked then. My boss said to keep it secret, because there was talk of a lawsuit if we started programming it for customers. I usually did, and told them they really, really, really might want to try out the A button after I left. Cable-hold the setup button-994-setup-00173-A. This will make your A button the 30-second skip button, so you could pick another convenient button there if you want to. The problem is, Motorola and the other companies made several Comcast DVRs with different software, so this hack only worked about half the time. It's worth a shot, though.
Just google "Comcast remote hacks" or find the Tivo forums, because this stuff is very public, now.
There is no reason to not have a DVR, whether it be Tivo or Comcast or even dish. YOU NEVER HAVE TO WATCH COMMERCIALS AGAIN, and you shave 16 minutes off of every hour you watch, and more with most sports. F commercials. F on-demand. F Amazon-on-demand on Tivo for 6 bucks a movie. F Comcast and all the others for every thing they do to screw their customers. F the antiquated business models just there to get your money. Think for yourself. Question authority.
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My God...
I am so ready to go off the grid, but I can't afford $30K for solar, and still need water and sewer for my house in the suburbs. F Skynet. Now, get off my lawn!
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I have actually noticed that many commercials tend to be louder than the shows they appear in. It's very annoying.
"Where is the free business model here? Will everything end up like HBO and pay TV?"
Actually, this is the one thing they haven't tried yet, and for the life of me I can't figure out why they're so afraid to do it. Right now you can a) pay a large sum for 'buffet' access, with a lot of shows and channels you don't want, and tiem-shift them with generally inadequate DVRs; or b) by shows individually from iTunes for 2 bucks a pop, which are inherently time-shifted because you own them... but it's incredibly expensive - a month of buying The Daily Show is about as expensive as a month of complete cable TV access!
Why don't networks allow time-shifted access to their entire programming lines for a single monthly fee? It works for HBO... why not $12/month for all of ABC, and $12/month for all of Fox? Why not let studios sell syndicated content directly to consumers, without the advertising middlemen? Why not let each consumer decide which model works best for them?
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Silly peoples
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Silly peoples
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ABC sucks anyways
OBAMA 08!! (if you want Clinton...watch "Sicko" the movie from Michael Moore..and you won't vote for her) and to those of you who want Mccain to be President...there is no hope for you anyways..your so stupid..that you shouldn't be allowed to vote anyways!
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I live in the UK, but lived in the US for years, and my God, your ads are annoying! Don't mean to offend anyone, but they are much crappier than ours (I don't find UK ads much of a problem, they're sometimes quite witty) and certainly they go on for 10 times as long.
I also notice that you _used_ to have worse TV than we do (or at least, much blander), but since the advent of the likes of HBO the best US stuff is actually way better than ours (Curb Your Enthusiasm vs Little Britain - no contest), from which I conclude that dependency on advertisers has a bad effect on US television quality.
What do people think of ad-blocker plug-ins on browsers? On reflection I decided not to use one, 'cos I don't want it to end up where decent sites are all subscription only.
And surely there are only 3 alternatives for TV - ads, subscription fees, or a BBC type system, with a compulsory subscription fee for everyone? No amount of complaining about 'failing business models' is going to change that, surely?
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It's a tough place to be
This is sad that ABC thought this approach would work. They need to do something different, likely changing commercial formats, adding addressable technologies, etc.
The truth is that the consumer is always right and here they don't like a quarter hour of irrelevant, untargeted ads. Those are the facts I believe, now ABC and others should figure out what do do.
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