Grrrr... Doomboy getting ANGRY!

[Doomboy]

So, once again ABC managed to screw up my recording of Lost.  I set my PVR to record the show, so I can watch it without so much commercial annoyance, and even though the show started at the right time, and presumably ran for an hour, the end was cut off, again.

My local station is going to air the show again on Saturday, but this is the third time this has happened, and this time I think I missed at least 3 minutes of the ending.  Every other time it has been only a minute or less, which is annoying, but not too terrible.

I notice this happening with other shows as well.  Are the networks trying to piss off people with PVRs? Do any of you notice this happening more as well, or am I alone in being screwed out of the endings of my shows?

I know that commercials are how they make money, and maybe they feel threatened by people being able to skip through them, but I'm fairly sure the technology to do so has existed for 30 years, and they haven't gone out of business yet.  Before I had a PVR, I would just tape everything I wanted to watch, and skip through the commercials that way.  I doubt I was the only one doing that.

Anyway, I am just getting pissed at this trend to go beyond their alloted hour by a few minutes.  If I was just watching the shows live, I would still be getting screwed, because often enough I watch one show, and then another one on a different netowrk.  I would miss the beginning of another show.

Okay.  I have ranted enough.  Just wanted to know if anyone else is experiencing this problem.

[Clanwolfer]

I seem to recall a news article that said network times were slowly drifting off by a minute or two; the networks were claiming it was for those vital 'on-the-hour' viewers who flip through if there's a commercial, but PVR companies were claiming it was to force people to sit and watch instead of recording.

[stiffler]

Why not just set it to record an extra 10 minutes?  That's what I do, and have been doing it since the VCR days when I wasn't quite sure whether my clock was set correctly.

Anyway, the reason they are doing it is to keep people on their channel.  It leads into the next program so people will stay there.  They have already missed the first 5 minutes of the CBS program so why not stick around and see all of the ABC show?  This practice has been going on for quite awhile now and I don't imagine it will stop anytime soon.  Some channels, (Fox, I believe is most notorious) will even begin programs EARLY.  I remember this happening with The Simpsons.  There was an article about the practice in Entertainment Weekly some time ago.

[ericb]

Yes they are doing it and yes it pisses me off.  NBC is very bad for this...why else does ER come on at 9:59?  It makes it impossible to record CSI (9-10) and then record ER (9:59-11) because the TiVo sees a conflict and cancels the one lower on the list.  I even remember NBC doing press releases where they talked about combating the DVR "problem".  But you know...my battle is a lot easier.  If they keep doing it then I will stop watching completely.  And as more and more people get DVRs then they will start to feel the pinch and move on to something different.  Hopefully.

[Bulletpig]

I have noticed this as well.  I have TimeWarner Cable and have the DVR box.  To fix the issue I just set the series to start 5 minutes early and go 5 minutes late.

With our DVR at least it can record two shows at once so it rarely ever screws up.  The only drawback to recording two at once is that you have to be watching one of the shows being recorded.

The good news is that in a few years, give or take I have a feeling that TV is in for a big change.

Based on how much my wife and I love the OnDemand channels that TimeWarner has, I really see TV moving to this direction.

HBO OnDemand is the best!  If I miss the show (Deadwood, Sopranos, etc.) They will have the latest show available starting the next day.  That way I don't even have to worry about DVRing the thing and can watch that show any time that I want.

God bless OnDemand and let the revolution begin!!!! :twisted:

Pig

[stiffler]

HBO OnDemand is the best!  If I miss the show (Deadwood, Sopranos, etc.) They will have the latest show available starting the next day.  That way I don't even have to worry about DVRing the thing and can watch that show any time that I want.

No doubt, man!  I was going to buy a Tivo just to record the HBO series that I watch with a friend of mine.  We only get together every couple of weeks to watch things like Deadwood/Sopranos.  With OnDemand (I have Comcast, btw) we watched the first four Deadwood episodes in one evening.  The whole series was up there for awhile after it ended.

I now have the PVR cable box supplied by Comcast for the HD programming and I've only used it once.  Granted, I don't seem to watch as much television as most users here, but I have found OnDemand to be great.

I would love to see more things available using the OnDemand thing.  Even if I had to subsribe to a premium service for it.  I think I have access to everything currently showing on OnDemand, but I actually subscribe to everything.  I think my friend (who doesn't get HBO) has to pay a nominal fee to watch things from HBO OnDemand.

I just hate to be chained to my television or follow a schedule.  I suppose I could just learn to actually use the PVR.  I am really sad I haven't seen Lost

[Doomboy]

My PVR is only able to record one show at a time.  I can watch something I have previously recorded while it records, but I can't set the thing to go five minutes late if there is a nother show to record.

I think the networks had better rethink their strategies.  I remember getting irritated at Fox's weird timing of show starts and ends, and now I just don't watch anything at all on Fox.  Nothing.

I hope the networks stop doing it soon.  It is just plain stupid.

[naednek]

They do this because ABC knows CBS has CSI NY on next.  They also know if you miss the first 5 mins of CSI there's no reason to watch.  So by delaying the ending a few extra minutes will screw people up.

I gave up on watching the "Stay tuned for next week's episode".  I'm sure I'll see a commercial for it sometime in the week.