I am a big Lost fan - what can I say, it's a guilty pleasure and I can't be supercool ALL the time. I rarely watch 'live' TV other than football or stupid stuff on MTV but last night there was a new episode of Lost that was great. It was one of those episodes where stuff comes together and the plot moves on rather than just filling time while the writers work out how on earth they are going to end this thing. And lots of people got killed too. And there were lots of ads.
I swear when this crappy Ford ad came on slap bang in the middle of a juicy bit I really wanted to smash the TV. Now, I like TV ads, it's why I got into the business and I understand the economics but at that moment if a little button had come up that said 'kill the ads and return to Lost for $20' I would have gladly done it. I probably would have paid more. Any ad that came on, even the next 'Balls' would have p**sed me off. Is that what clients really want their audience to feel?
So, what's the alternative? Maybe Lost and other things like that are made for DVD sales, but not really. You can skip the ads on PVR but only later and it's still breaking the flow. TV through the web has, I think, had a few false dawns but Hulu looks to be pretty good now. I know people who just watch Hulu but it's a solitary experience. And despite rumors of Joost running out of moolah it seems to be getting more and more content. HBO has not been doing as well recently as it used to but I think that's more to do with their top shows (Sopranos, Sex and the City, Six Feet Under) all finishing at roughly the same time.
The fact that there are so many alternatives would indicate that there isn't actually a viable mass alternative. But I tell you what as soon as someone does work that out there will be no turning back. Like the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 life will change forever.
James Cooper
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Member since: 03 Jun 2008
Last login: 17 Nov 2009
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