TVSquad

I really have no issue with it on most networks. But TBS pisses me off. They are REALLY bad about it. They come back from a commercial and immediatly pop up an ad. Does it go away? No. It fades out a bit but is still there. Then about 20 seconds before they go to commercial, it fades back in to remind you as if you haven't noticed for the last 5 minutes. Then it disappears about 4 seconds before commercial. WOW. How generous of you TBS!

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I absolutely agree - the pop-ups are annoying (to say the least) and are getting worse. I know what channel I am on on and what shows I want to watch. I don't need constant reminders that block a good part of the picture. Even worse is the logos on some of the premium channels like Starz. Some will rationalize that on broadcast and basic cable, the pop-ups are another form of advertising. But on channels that I'm paying a premium charge for, I don't want logos, pop-ups or anything else - just a clear picture!!!!

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Something had to have happened recently in the ad world because this is now becoming uncommon (as opposed to rare). Just the other night, while watching the Flyers-Devils NHL game on Versus, a pop-up ad almost 1/4 the size of the screen showed up in the bottom left corner for the Star Trek DVD (with special trailer during 2nd intermission! Yehaw!)

Also, noticed something similar during a show or two last week on regular channels, but can't remember which ones.

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Was lounging around sick Sunday, and watched a significant portion of the Matrix Trilogy in hi-def on AMC. I felt as though I was sitting through a 6 hour ad for the Prisoner... when, in fact, I was.

Giant pop-up took up at least 20% of the screen and would last for up to a minute.

grr.

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They are particularly annoying when they block out something at the bottom of the screen, like for example when shows have some sort of mixed up timeline and being able to see "6 hours earlier" or "2 weeks later" is important to knowing what is going on in the show.

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I didn't mind them when they were opaque. But the full color with animations is annoying as hell. What makes A&E think that because I am watching criminal minds repeats on their channel that I would be interested in The Real Housewives. The ads wouldn't be so bad if they were targeted correctly. If I am watching a show about serial killers and rapists why would I care about The Real Housewives show. Maybe if the pop up was about their show Cold Case Files that would be more appropriate. I really hate it when the cover a good portion of the screen. I am trying to watch here people move that crap.

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What's worse is when we're watching some of our local main TV stations in HD, when they add the pop-up ads the video becomes standard definition and doesn't fill the screen. When the ads go away, HD is back. Plus, there's a skip in the video and audio when the ads come in and out. So damn annoying.

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It all started with the second tier networks i.e. CW, MyQ and Fox. It's totally obnoxious. They tell you what you're already watching. They tell you what's on next. They tell you what's on in two weeks or a frik'n month. Not only that they put an ad in the channel logo space that they won't take away. It's enough to make you quit commercial TV and just watch DVDs.

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What time does shovin' buddies start?

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I had to stop watching HGTV last year in October when I was beset by their promos for an upcoming Halloween-themed craft show: not only did it start with bats flying across the left side of the screen, the banner itself took up fully ONE THIRD of the screen.
This was while I was watching a craft show and the banner prevented me from seeing the demonstration of technique I had tuned in for in the first place.

They also ran another VERY BIG and intrusive promo for a book by one of their on-air personalities, Carol Duvall.. however, when you went to the website being advertised, the books were sold out.


So we're getting five- and six-minute-long commercial breaks plus pop up banners and bugs during the program. Are they really trying to drive us away from television altogether?

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SciFi's were terrible last year and early this year. A huge purple bar across 1/3rd of the screen.

Happily, SyFy's popups are a lot less obnoxious now. Semi-transparent grey bar, slightly shorter.

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Allison, seriously, everyone HATES these pop-ups, it'd have been alot better post for you to tell us who at the networks to contact to protest this practice. They're the ones permitting this intrusion and we need a coordinated effort to protest it so it'll stop instead of, as it now is, getting worse.

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They piss me off so much I immediately hate the product or service and vow never to buy it. And then I hate the company and everything else it makes. Regardless of whether I liked the product or company before.

Who are their marketing "experts"? Comatose idiots? People have hated pop-ups from their inception. Why do you continue doing this? I will never respond well to In-My-Face. Never. And I pass on my feelings about you and your product to my household, my friends, my relatives ...

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If I see that obnoxious Gordon Liddy again I'm going to puke right into my remote holder. Who the hell has got enough money in this economy to buy enough gold to make it profitable. That man makes me sick to my stomach!!!!!!!

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So, what can we do about this problem. We all agree the pop-ups are obnoxious and distracting. We can complain 'til the cows come home, but that won't fix it. Is it the cable company or the networks that provide the little annoyances??? Are they present on satellite/DirecTV services?

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