Why do TV stations bother with a tv guide?

[ianB]

Everytime I set my recorder for a show i only get half of it in, often I dont even get that as its NEVER shown at the time advertised.
This happens All the time, its so annoying, I would much rather pay for tv like I did in the UK, at least you then know when a show / doco etc will start.
Why Television companies show no regard for their viewers I dont know.

[GTB_an_Owl]

yep

record 15 minutes before and after Ian

geoff

[ianB]

Its been so bad that I always record an extra 20 t0 30 minutes, last night I recorded an extra 1 hour because the station is always going way over time, anyway I played it back and my show was nowhere to be seen, even though it was said to be on.

[N1]

When you watch a recording, you cannot be trusted to watch the ads like you are supposed to. Only way around that is to make it hard for people to record anything to watch later.

[jenchris]

You used to be able to edit out the ads, this no longer seems to be possible.
I've missed a lot of denouements due to poor programming. Consequently I seldom watch commercial TV.
I blame those greedy folks who decided to pay foxtel and sky.
If everyone resisted pay tv, all the decent programmes would be on free to air.

[PCH]

As Mirko said, if no-one watches programs live and instead they watch a recorded version - they can easily skip past the recorded ads. Very soon the ads won't provide a return and the companies withdraw them. Then the tv companies can't afford to buy the best programs because they have no money from ads like they used to do.

[Exfso]

Know the feeling well. I now don't even bother with trying to record shows, I have found a couple of sites where I can download them add free and in a lot of cases before they are even released in Oz. Really the local TV stations have deadset shot themselves in both feet, they are deplorable.:mad2:
Just for information, most shows that are set to run for 1 hr in Australia, are in fact only 40 mins long, this definitely shows that the TV stations are allowing 33% or more for advertisements. Even Foxtel do the same now and that is a damn rip-off as well. Is it any wonder why people are resorting to other methods of watching their favourite shows. It will be interesting to see what Netflix etc are like. I am not holding my breath!!

[marc4darkskies]

Commercial (free-to-air) TV deliberately run their programmes overtime. It's all about reach & frequency which are the determinants of commercial ad spot price. Prime time ads cost a lot and if you run a high rating prime time program overtime into the next slot (perhaps non prime time) then the stats for viewing ads in the subsequent time slot increase and so they can charge a higher price by quoting higher reach & frequency numbers.

I very rarely have a problem recording Foxtel programmes. For the most part they run on time and start within a couple of minutes of the guide time but I always record an extra 10 minutes just in case - I hardly ever need it though.



I don't believe that for one second. I hate commercial (free-to-air) TV!!!!!!!!:mad2::mad2: I suffered in agony for what seemed like a bazillion years having to watch the garbage on commercial TV. Even these days I rarely watch it. Hoorah for pay-tv!!!!

[csb]

I find over 95% of the shows start/finish as per advertised times. Although I only use the epg (electronic program guide) from the remote control.

Occasionally a sports game may go overtime.

[Renato1]

The thing about TV guides is that they don't give the whole picture - like where the 7 or 8 minute long ad breaks are going to be towards the end of the movie.
Cheers,
Renato

[MortonH]

You can't be watching the same shows as me, then!

The inability of the commercial channels to stick to their schedules astounds me. Add to that the fact that they constantly muck about with the time slots of decent drama/action shows (e.g. 24, Homeland, Person Of Interest).

Unless you're into prime time crapality shows, they really don't care.

[pluto]

Remember Freeview, that thing that was marketed to viewers as the best thing ever in free TV so that we'd all go out and buy Freeview badged devices?
Well Freeview was really just a set of rules placed on manufacturers of TVs and recorders etc. and, among other things, the manufacturers had to remove the ability to skip ads in their devices if they wanted to carry the Freeview badge (which of course they did as consumers had all been conned into thinking they should only buy things with a Freeview sticker)

[N1]

I used to think Australia had the world's worst Television - until I went to New Zealand :P



I so agree with you! That's why I've all but completely removed TV from my life. Any TV. It didn't happen overnight but it was a decisive process. Of course, I still read the papers and go online to keep informed, but both or these are so much more efficient. I cannot comprehend how I was ever able to suffer through a procession of ads before seeing the information I was after. I'm so over it.

If you love astronomy and have pay TV, cancel the pay TV today & put the saved cash towards some REAL entertainment: a trip to see a Total Solar Eclipse.

[FlashDrive]

Australia's free to Air TV is an absolute shambles.
Nothing decent to watch most of the time.
Sick of Reality Programmes / MKR /The Block / Dancing with the Stars / really come on please... then there's Funeral Insurance / Car Insurance / Travel Insurance / and it goes on....:mad2:

Can't stand early morning breakfast shows like Sunrise etc ... they all giggle and carry on so stupidly and give us ' trash ' that comes out of Hollywood ....who cares if Kim Kardasien has a bigger butt than Jennifer Lopez.... honestly the stuff they consider is ' news worthy ' is beyond me .....:sadeyes:

I counted 10 AD's straight the other day before it went back to the programme I was watching.

Now I know why some people opt out and go Foxtel / Sky and alike.
Although I have heard they to ' repeat ' programmes quite a lot.

When AD's come on...the ' MUTE' button is instantly pushed..... every time...!! ...and I have a ' power nap ' while waiting for the show to continue ....;)

I mainly watch ABC / ABC24 / or SBS .....

The ' crap ' that is dished out today on free to air is astounding.
I search out for good documentaries / Science / Technology and decent Wildlife Programmes..... as for the rest....I just use the on/off switch. :thumbsup:

Col....

[rrussell1962]

We have Foxtel Col, hundreds of channels of crap!

[N1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAlDbP4tdqc

[rustigsmed]

I can't stand commercial tv. foxtel isn't much better.
I don't have a tv aerial (but still have a tv) so i pretty much pick and choose tv series' to watch through the pc. documentaries are usually done on abc or sbs on demand or even youtube has a good collection.
it will take a few years for Netflix oz version to be any good due to existing regional rights to tv shows - apparently they going to be going for global rights to tv series soon rather than regional as is does now - which would be a game changer if they can pull it off. I only miss out on sport but then can visit someones place to watch it or go to a pub.

[Baddad]

I tend to agree with what's been said already. :)
I remember back in the early '60s when the world was monochrome on the box. Advert breaks were 30 sec. There was not enough time to fetch a sandwich or take any other kind of break.

(Person who goes to the kitchen during adds; commercial traveler)

Recently you can make a sandwich and brew up a cuppa during the ad break. I have timed some to be 4 to 5 minutes.

In the USA during big football matches the game is scheduled around adds. The game stops during ad breaks. Can be interesting in some other sports I assume?

Cheers:)

[pluto]

My apartment doesn't have a working antenna so I haven't watched free-to-air in years, it's wonderful!

Netflix, ABC iView, and SBS On Demand have plenty to keep me busy if I feel like chucking something on and iTunes/Google Play have everything if I want something specific. I'm happy to pay for content that I want to watch partly because I can't be bothered watching ads, but also because it makes me only watch stuff I value - if something's not worth paying for then it's probably not worth watching.
I also just started trying out Stan which isn't too bad, though it ought to be as it's a complete ripoff of Netflix.

I guess if you like watching sports you don't have much choice though, just fta and Foxtel, though last time I checked Foxtel had more ads than fta...

[ianB]

I have also noticed that they even cut out parts of a programme, especially in shows like Midsomer Murder.

I basically watch ABC and SBS along with some shows on 7l

[marc4darkskies]

:lol: You need more eclectic tastes then!

We have every channel but we don't watch all of them. We're very picky about what we watch and there is usually something on somewhere that we like. We also look for and record most every program we like in advance (sometimes weeks) so we can fast forward through the ads. Being able to record a whole series of weekly programs is a boon too. Yes, Foxtel repeat their programs (sometimes a good thing) but we usually find something new. Over the Christmas / New Year period though they can be slow with new content.

Have I mentioned how much I HATE free-to-air TV? Watching it is a form of torture. It's like having a severe case of tunnel vision while you are being forced to watch someone else's dull / vacuous / anti-intellectual / mundane notions of what constitutes "sen...sAtional" entertainment. :help::scared2:

[tlgerdes]

One of Microsoft's best products, that was way before its time, Windows MediaCenter. It is by far the best PVR you can "buy". Add 4+ TV tuners to a PC and a 500GB HDD and you will never miss a thing on FTA TV. Yes you still have to pad the TV shows by 15mins, but who cares, I can record 4 (or more) shows at once.

Is the easiest thing to navigate to record/view TV, most intuitive interface that they have ever built. Have been using it for 7 years, been through 3 "upgrades" still humming along great.

Not cheap though, will set you back over a $1k for a decent system.

[MortonH]

Yes. Older shows are the wrong length for today's cycle so bits get cut out. I've seen episodes of MASH and Friends (not even all that old) edited really badly so that a character says something that is nonsensical in relation to what was said before, but it's because part of the conversation has been removed purely to accommodate modern timing. Butchering shows to allow more time for crapality adverts is my biggest peeve.

[Renato1]

I'll be going to Italy later this year where I luxuriate in 320 channels of Free-to-Air TV that include three history channels, a crime channel, a science fiction and fantasy channel, a classic rock channel, seven sports channels, a poker channel and seven or eight movies are on at any time - with hardly any ads compared to over here. And on some of those channels, I can just click the Audio button and listen to it in English.

And they love Australian programs - Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries and Top Gear `Australia to name a few are all dubbed in. And Border Control Australia, seems to be the biggest hit over there.

Our Free-To-Air TV is utterly pathetic compared to what I get over there. Even our Foxtel is pretty poor compared to Italian Free-To-Air.

I blame Malcolm Fraser for all this. He was the one who dropped the regulation of ads on TV stations, saying that the market would sort it out. How could the market ever sort it out when three operators had oligopoly rights?
Cheers,
Renato

[The_bluester]

I gave up on FTA TV a long time ago. And on foxtel not long after.

We do watch Grand Prix racing, for which we have a PVR setup on out NAS, so we don't even need a formal PVR to record TV. Grand Prix is one of the few things I forgive running over time as sometimes the weather see to that.

Aside form that, we have quite a DVD collection (All ripped to the NAS so we can watch anything we want without futzing around with actual physical media) and recently took the dive in to get Netflix via geo unblocking services. That has pretty well weaned my wife off channel BT almost completely.


Now to see if the geoblock tech might get us access to a UK Grand Prix stream so we can ditch the inane local commentary and "We just have to go to an ad break" right in the middle of something, cause ads for "Adult" type services are obviously important.

[pluto]

Yeah the Aussie GP broadcast is terrible, do you still have to put up with Rusty and his mindless drivel?

I use Hola unblocker and watch Netflix etc through a browser on the TV box rather than a vpn and I have access to the BBC iPlayer (wish they'd let me pay for that actually...), I haven't tried watching the F1 on it but I don't see why it wouldn't work. Is the F1 broadcast still on BBC this year?

[jenchris]

I'm convinced TV is not going to last much longer in its present form.
Wallee is round the corner if it continues along its path.
There was a movie a while back about a guy who wakes up in a world dying because the population have been brainwashed into using Gatorade or something to fertilise the soil....
Idiotsville or some similar title. The premise seems to be so close to the truth it made me sweat a bit.

[The_bluester]

We are using Getflix so we can set ourselves to "Be" in the UK as well as we can the states for Netflix. I will have to look in to iplayer, I believe there is an XBMC plugin which would be even better. And yes, we get to listen to Rusty and AJ still. The biggest side effect to that is the increased risk of me putting a remote control through the TV out of irritation with the inanity that they spout. They seem to be broadcasting to the "Beer and stubbies and blue singlet" watcher.

Netflix etc we use with the Apple TV 3. For all the time since they launched I have though the ATV was one of the most useless devices under the sun due to the limited format support and STUPID use restrictions that Apple put on them, which was a dumb move on the par of Apple as they had the potential to really shape the market when they released them. Suddenly with Netflix, we have three of them!

Jenchris, I agree, TV in it's current evolution I doubt will survive much longer, and good riddance. It is hard to turn on the box without seeing crap "reality" TV and spoon fed advertising and advertorials. We have a couple of TVs in the house, only one of which actually has an antenna connected to it.

I am quite happy to pay up to about $20 per month (Which looks likely between Stan streaming and Netflix when it launches) to watch what I want to watch, when I want to watch it and without stinking advertising every two minutes.