The Tv is turned off

Is it just me or does mainstream tv just drive you crazy?

About 18 months ago i decided tv programming had got to the stage that i found it unwatchable. I remember sitting there in front of the box and as the latest rug sale ad blared its spiel of the week i thought that’s it, enough, enough, enough of this crap. I sat back over the next few days and thought what do i really watch tv for? I love my sports especially motor racing and AFL which is programmed from Friday night to Sunday afternoon so the decision was made, no tv during the week.

When the sports are on i tend to just record the shows and watch later so i can just fwd through the ads at my pleasure. The ads drive me completely mad and after you have not been exposed to them every day you become so intolerant of them. As a show breaks up goes the volume and you get bombarded continually with the same ads every time. As we all know the more popular the show, so goes the frequency of the ads which I’m sorry just ruins the flow of most shows. Now when i watch the football i thing don’t kick a goal for a while so they don’t go to an ad break.

I now watch my favourite shows uninterrupted by ads on disc that i have purchased or rented, the same as i do movies. That means what is normally a 1hr show on tv is watched in around 40 minutes. The shows flow better and makes the whole experience so much more enjoyable. The main point is i decide how i spend my time and i decided no more crappy ads for me. Now with the latest technology i think more and more people just record the shows and watch later when its convenient to them and i bet most of the ads are just bypassed.

Look i understand that these tv stations make the money through the ads but they just continue to use the same model of program delivery. They are so stuck in the past and you don’t see anything new or inspiring in their methods of product delivery. The picture quality is now much better and so is the sound but as the push for more profits continues the loser is the end user who’s decided to sit down and watch a program.

The other options to free to air tv in Perth is cable tv but guess what, yes ads left right and center. I remember when cable tv used to show ads in between shows and were mainly for other shows on the network. Now when i see this programming you might as well be on free to air. So lets see they get you to pay up to over a $100 a month and then just shove ads at you. Here is an original thought, if you have to have ads as part of the service what about asking me what type of products and services I’m interested in and then delivering me relevant advertising based on my preferences.

Over the last 18 months I have periodically tuned in to the various stations and nothing has changed. Its so empowering just saying no and deciding what you do with your time. I don’t think ill be tuning in again soon till things change, but I’m pretty confident that this broken model will just continue to roll along.

Tags: tv