Skipping Commercials Is Stealing According To Turner Ceo

[werejag]

Posted 1 May 2002 11:05:57 UTC on 2600.com

It was inevitable. The broadcast industry is now describing people who skip over commercials as thieves! And with new technology like HDTV and insane laws such as the DMCA, they may very well make it stick in the future.

Jamie Kellner is the chairman and CEO of Turner Broadcasting, which encompasses everything from CNN to TNT and is a part of AOL Time Warner. On Monday, an interview with Kellner appeared in CableWorld.

In response to a question on why personal video recorders (PVR's) were bad for the industry, Kellner responded: "Because of the ad skips.... It's theft. Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial or watch the button you're actually stealing the programming."

While most programming on American TV is so insultingly bad that nobody would ever need to steal it in the first place, there is great danger in permitting this line of reasoning to become accepted. If this is seen as a "problem," expect legislation forbidding any device that allows consumers to skip the sacred commercial. Kellner, however, is not completely unreasonable. When asked if he considers people who go to the bathroom during a commercial to be thieves, he responded: "I guess there's a certain amount of tolerance for going to the bathroom. But if you formalize it and you create a device that skips certain second increments, you've got that only for one reason, unless you go to the bathroom for 30 seconds. They've done that just to make it easy for someone to skip a commercial." Heaven forbid.

The text of the entire interview can be found at

http://www.inside.com/product/product.asp?entity=CableWorld&pf_ID=7A2ACA71-FAAD-41FC-A100-0B8A11C30373. ://http://www.inside.com/product/produ...-0B8A11C30373. ://http://www.inside.com/product/produ...-0B8A11C30373.

[Prof. Frink]

Seems like everything we do is considered stealing these days... :right:

[svmpatel]

Yeah right... It really does seem like we can't do anything nowadays without being accused of stealing.

/me wipes my backside after a good long hard dump on the head of Jamie Kellner (chairman and CEO of Turner Broadcasting).

Does this mean i'll be accused of stealing his air?

heh

Why can't it be made LEGAL to shoot people like this?

[betax]

Sigh... where in the TV licence agreement state that you have to watch the comercials.

DCMA and other **** like this needs to be voted out and new laws that PROTECT US FROM STUFF LIKE THE DCMA from being made should be put in its place.

The DCMA and its newest encarnation only hurt consumers and developers.. Large companys abuse it to crush even small little developers that just want to find out how something works.. Why can't people in high places see that?

Jesus christ. I am learning Japanese and moving to Japan.. that seams to be a MUCH better place to live then America.

[Wickedkitten Veteran]

That's got to be the silliest thing I've ever heard.

"Because of the ad skips.... It's theft. Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial or watch the button you're actually stealing the programming."

You have to watch the spots eh? What if I want to get off my ass during a break and get some nachos or go take a pee? It's the same reasoning cos either way you aren't watching the advert.

They are getting paid the same amount whether you choose to watch the advert or not so they should quit their bitching.

I think he/she/it is just looking for a scapegoat for lost revenue and doesn't want to blame AOL

[+primortal Subscriber²]

"Because of the ad skips.... It's theft. Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial or watch the button you're actually stealing the programming."

You gotta be sh*tting me. I am paying for that station(s) as it is through my cable bill, now I am forced to watch the crap commercials they air? How can skipping ads be stealing? I didn't purchase a license to watch the program so what am I actually stealing? Like what Wickedkitten said, they get paid regardless if we watch the ads or not. They are such lame retarts, they need a good beating. I betcha this person gets to watch all the shows he want with the ads removed.

(looking through my cable bill for and EULA)

[paulladle]

I think he's missing the point that if you (the viewer) are paying for your TV (through a license or Pay TV) then you can watch what you want, as you are still paying for it even when you're not watching. Perhaps we should try to claim back money for when we're not watching? That's about 20 hours unwatched a day for me, rebate should be in the post Mr. Kellner?

[Osiris]

Skip ads? what this sounds like the holygrail of TV

Im in Australia, you know how behind in technology we are, so whats this about skipping ads, please explain?

You mean we have the technology to skip ads, Ive heard of it but never thought it would ever come in.

[Guest deadzombie]

I'm not stealing a damn thing. All of my television is digitally broadcast, and I pay a hefty bit of my hard earned (lol) payroll each month to Time Warner for it.

Just because I have no desire to see whats been added to Cheer detergent (now thats a cool product...doesnt it seem like they add some new chemical to it ever month? I bet it eats chrome off of bumpers) or how I'll be a better person for buying from Sears, that doesn't give anyone the right to call me a theif.

If they don't like the way their networks operate, maybe it's time for them to stop broadcasting over the free airwaves and look at another business model instead of placing blame on their customer base.

[-Viper-]

Still looking for my tvEULA!

Must find it. I know it is around here somewhere.

[Max]

hmm, i wonder if shuting your eyes is stealing, perhaps even blinking during an advert!!! :rambo:

[Tai]

yum.. lets hope adaware come up with somethin nice to skip ads on tv...

if not... a slide show of kusanagi's sig chick will do nicely :D

[Kusanagi]

You just love megumi, don't ya? Okay... let's post the first slide here then :p

[EmuZombie Veteran]

it's funny... it really is... I never once signed any contract or anything requiring me to watch ads.... acording to what's said, something as simple as flipping through channels are going to the bathroom during a commercial break is "stealing"

[AgEnTsMiTh]

Put some naked chicks in commercials like they do everywhere ELSE in the world but here in the US then Ill watch the commercials.

[Techie2000]

Idiot of the 1st Degree. Do we have to always watch ads? Is it mandatory that big buisness stick its nose in every part of our lives, make laws to control us. We need to hold a rebellion or something...How about a protest in front of turner HQ...

[postertoad]

How about .... dont watch TV. Seriously. Everything you would want to watch is on the web. Any information you need, you can find better, more reliable sources on the net. TV is just for stupid people anyway. ;) [ouch -- I can see the bricks flying already]

[MaxPayne1357]

you are dead wrong there postertoad.

[noll3095]

Originally posted by primortal

I am paying for that station(s) as it is through my cable bill

Well you don't actually pay for the channels; you pay for the privilege to have them in your home. If you paid for every station they wouldn't have the ads at all, just like HBO. I wouldn't want to pay a few extra dollars per channel per month with 120+ stations.

[sunnyy4]

/me reaches for the lovely fast forward button on my VCR just to pi$$ them off... ooh... I'm stealing!!! TAKE ME TO JAIL NOW!!! What a bunch of fagits! LOL

[hurting101]

What about websites? Are you stealing if you quickly scroll down, or look away, before the banner ad loads? If you close the popup before looking at it? If you tear out those annoying letter ad things in magazines? I think this guy should think things through before making an idiot of himself :ermm:

[werejag]

i see his point, but get real i have never made a contract with turner. he sells advert so he thinks we should look at them

[Greenmuncher]

so is he saying if we turn on the TV during a comercial wer are required to watch that particular set of comericals even though we didnt watch the show? is that still stealing? Big companies are really starting to **** me off, they think only about profits and not about there customers. If we had a law against everything big companies thought was stealing we'ed all be in jail...

just my 2 cents

Greenmuncher