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ReplayTV May Drop "Commercial Advance"

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the not-such-a-surprise dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Wired News is reporting that the new owners of ReplayTV are considering dropping the Commercial Advance and Send Show options features." I had bad luck with that function chopping out bits of show anyway. Between that and the 30 second skip function, I'm surprised ReplayTV has lasted this long!

8 of 294 comments (clear)

  1. Another crippled product by AtariAmarok · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've thought of Tivo and Replay TV in the past, but as time goes on the companies degrade their products by getting rid of useful features like this.

    How feasable is it to do something as good, but without the crippling, on a computer with a large hard disk and good video card?

    --
    Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
    1. Re:Another crippled product by TrueBuckeye · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I love my RTV, and I'd still buy another even if they stripped out CA. As long as I can still pull the shows off to my pc and burn them to DVD, I'll use it. BUT, if they keep taking out these features, then they are removing the exact thing which makes them different (superior?) to Tivo. I hope D&M know what they are doing...other than avoiding lawsuits.

      --
      Was that night on the marge of Lake LaBarge I cremated Sam McGee...
    2. Re:Another crippled product by wealthychef · · Score: 3, Interesting

      None. But as a longtime TiVo subscriber, I'm perturbed more by the total absence of anything new for years now. TiVo Series 2? they can cram it. I can think of dozens of new features I'd like to see in terms of search and playback, which they could implement in their Series 1 and 2 receivers. What the hell? This product seems dead in the water.

      --
      Currently hooked on AMP
    3. Re:Another crippled product by tgibbs · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Its unfortunate that some owners of the Tivo series 1 product, despite having seen it enhanced by numerous feature that it did not have when they bought it, are upset that TiVo is now focused on enhancements to the new Series II platform. TiVo even offered to let people who moved up to series II transfer their lifetime service contracts to the new machine (service contracts normally are asscociated with the particular unit). But some apparently chose to hold onto their old systems, and now are griping that they aren't receiving some of the cool new features like streaming of music and photos from PCs. My suspicion is some Series I owners chose not to upgrade because the old units are far more easily "hackable." That's fine, but they shouldn't complain when the new system starts to get enhancements that aren't shared with the old one.

  2. Why oh why... by sk3tch · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I don't understand why ReplayTV would even consider removing those features, especially seeing as those are two of the HUGE advantages it has over its (winning) competitor Tivo.

    Sure, Tivo has the 30 second skip if you have the right model and you enter in the Easter Egg, but most people don't surf around for Easter Eggs and therefore aren't aware of it (plus it isn't advertised as a feature for drones shopping at Best Buy, etc.).

    They already declared bankruptcy and were bought out by another company, so somehow by eliminating some of its most compelling features they are going to rise to the top?

  3. not perfect by chill182 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The commercial skip works great on sitcoms that are on the main network stations. That's about it. On TechTV and G4 it doesn't skip past the long commericals (video professor, that air filter thing). On dramas like 24, Buffy or Alias it skips too far, requiring me to rewind several minutes. I probably use commercial skip on about 1/4th of all my recorded shows.

  4. Re:Before the flames begin. by fiddlesticks · · Score: 3, Interesting

    > You do know that advertising is what pays for TV programming, broadcasting, etc., in the USofA, don't you?

    nope. consumers pay for broadcasting in the usa with the extra cost of their consumer goods due to the spend on advertising. The adverts don't come for free, and the companies advertising the goods pass that cost on to the consumer.

    in countries with a TV licence, the cost is yearly/ monthly/ not-optional, but it costs *less* (unless you buy *no* consumer goods during the year.)

    IF FMCG companies weren't spending the money on adverstising, your goods would be cheaper, and your TV viewing would be uninterrupted by ads.

    --
    http://milkshake.dexy.org
  5. Re:well yeah.. by darkith · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Same in North America.

    A TV which does not obscure the overscan area will show the flashing white square in the top left.

    IIRC, it flashes slowly for a few seconds 30 s before break, starts flashing rapidly 5 or 10 before, and goes solid during the above mentioned transition to the still frame.

    Course, I haven't seen it recently on modern TVs which cover the overscan area well...perhaps it's changed...