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I live in France where I wonder whether there's a law against abusive ad sequences, because they're much less intrusive: Movies/programs start at 9pm. The ad b

by tajen 11y ago

I live in France where I wonder whether there's a law against abusive ad sequences, because they're much less intrusive: Movies/programs start at 9pm. The ad breaks are at 9.45pm and 10.30pm. It means most movies (1.30) have only 1 ad break, series such as X-Files and 24 hours are displayed with uninterrupted episodes. Football games match this format. At high school, those who went to Spain or UK discovered the poor state of TV in the rest of the world. We're lucky.

umanwizard 11y ago
Must have been strange watching 24 in France, then. In the US, the time in the story was set up to align with ad breaks, so when it was XX:47 (for example) in the story, it was always 21:47 in reality.
- Maarten88 11y ago
  I can watch a recorded episode 24 in ca 35 min. Poor Americans, watching series like these on broadcast TV makes you sit through 25 minutes of advertising (and watching US advertising makes me angry, though Americans probably think it's normal). No wonder subscription services have taken off there first.
- tajen 11y ago
  Indeed, times didn't match. And worse: In most movies/series we can clearly see that a sequence is supposed to be a summary for people who come back from a break. Very similar experience to series you "buy on bittorrent".
- david-given 11y ago
  Living in the UK with the ad-free BBC, you could always tell US import TV series because they had 45 minute slots rather than the 30 or 60 minute slots of the local content. The first (and only) time I saw an episode of Star Trek on US television I was shocked when I realised there was a commercial break immediately after the credits. (I turned it off in the disgust.)
  - petepete 11y ago
    This is why I cringe every time I hear people badmouth the BBC. I'd pay double the licence fee for it, it's that good.
tsotha 11y ago
There used to be government restrictions in the US regarding how many minutes per hour broadcasters could show commercials, since TV stations were using "the public airwaves", and in most places you only had three or four channels. But with the advent of 150+ channel cable services they decided the rationale for that kind of regulation had been undermined.

by tajen 11y ago

umanwizard 11y ago

Must have been strange watching 24 in France, then. In the US, the time in the story was set up to align with ad breaks, so when it was XX:47 (for example) in the story, it was always 21:47 in reality.

Maarten88 11y ago
I can watch a recorded episode 24 in ca 35 min. Poor Americans, watching series like these on broadcast TV makes you sit through 25 minutes of advertising (and watching US advertising makes me angry, though Americans probably think it's normal). No wonder subscription services have taken off there first.
tajen 11y ago
Indeed, times didn't match. And worse: In most movies/series we can clearly see that a sequence is supposed to be a summary for people who come back from a break. Very similar experience to series you "buy on bittorrent".
david-given 11y ago
Living in the UK with the ad-free BBC, you could always tell US import TV series because they had 45 minute slots rather than the 30 or 60 minute slots of the local content. The first (and only) time I saw an episode of Star Trek on US television I was shocked when I realised there was a commercial break immediately after the credits. (I turned it off in the disgust.)
- petepete 11y ago
  This is why I cringe every time I hear people badmouth the BBC. I'd pay double the licence fee for it, it's that good.

tsotha 11y ago

There used to be government restrictions in the US regarding how many minutes per hour broadcasters could show commercials, since TV stations were using "the public airwaves", and in most places you only had three or four channels. But with the advent of 150+ channel cable services they decided the rationale for that kind of regulation had been undermined.