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TiVo inserting short advert before playing a recording

203K views 3K replies 350 participants last post by  Chuck_IV 
#1 · (Edited)
Just got a new Bolt and I thought I was going crazy. When I play a recording the screen goes black with the spinning blue circle for a couple of seconds, then an advertisement plays for about 15 secs, then the recording starts. If you go back and play from the beginning you'll see a different ad. The ones I remember seeing are for Toyota, Keurig and Amazon.

It seems you can skip the ad by pressing fast forward but it's not that seamless.

Anyone else?
 
#928 ·
If this keeps TIVO alive for many more years, ok. It is what it is.

Here's my main problem with all of this. I pay for service which supposedly includes support.
I have 5 TIVO minis, not one of them have EVER worked properly for streaming.

So where is the support / development to fix these issues? What prevents fixing these issues?

And now, more revenue for TIVO. Will any of that be devoted to improved support?

Now, I've moved on and simply purchased other streaming devices, but that shouldn't have been necessary.

So, if TIVO is not going to properly support their streaming services, then shut them down. Take them off the boxes and save some money that way, before sticking on those darn commercials.
 
#1,218 ·
If this keeps TIVO alive for many more years, ok. It is what it is.

Here's my main problem with all of this. I pay for service which supposedly includes support.
I have 5 TIVO minis, not one of them have EVER worked properly for streaming.

So where is the support / development to fix these issues? What prevents fixing these issues?

And now, more revenue for TIVO. Will any of that be devoted to improved support?

Now, I've moved on and simply purchased other streaming devices, but that shouldn't have been necessary.

So, if TIVO is not going to properly support their streaming services, then shut them down. Take them off the boxes and save some money that way, before sticking on those darn commercials.
This is entirely off-topic, so mods are free to move this to a new thread.
@whoareyou_1999, please tell me what problems you are experiencing with streaming on your Mini's.

I have recently joined this club of TiVo users, and I bought two TiVo minis. I have only set-up one of them so-far, and it works perfectly with live TV, previously-recorded shows (from Cable TV), and Netflix/Amazon.

What problems have you experienced with streaming on the Mini?
 
#931 ·
I'm not sure where you guys heard this, but to my knowledge we have no plans to block downgrades from TE4 to TE3. To be clear, this is only on boxes that are capable of supporting TE3. For instance, the upcoming TiVo EDGE will only support TE4 and beyond. It will never be able to be downgraded to TE3.
Maybe because it would've been the next logical dumb move to force ads? :rolleyes:
 
#943 ·
For me a Tivo is a DVR. I use it to record and watch TV shows/movies. Anything else, features, apps, streaming is a bonus. I am not getting the ads yet but for me they will most likely be terrible. And I wonder being on very slow DSL how long they will take to load.............

But Tivo is probably in trouble. Thinking of the DVR part of the Tivo (which for me is what a Tivo IS), between the phasing out of cable cards and possible ATSC 3 the DVR part is becoming obsolete. So they are probably trying to figure out how to survive. Corporations are in it for the money, of course. But there is some difference between trying to survive and r*ping customers for every penny like the cable cos and many other companies. IMO at least. So will see what happens here.

Tivo actually has a billion dollar market cap. Though there are a lot of members here at TC I'm guessing the majority of their customers are not TC members. Allowing current customers to stop the ads is good. But going forward new customers will know nothing else, just TE4 and ads. They are probably counting on that. They want to keep TC members happy I think. And other non TC members who start getting ads and either call Tivo or start researching the net. But long run they want to try to stay in business, doing whatever it takes to survive. Will lose some customers, others will put up with it, counting a lot on new customers who will know nothing different. Will see how it develops.......................
 
#965 ·
So here is what I found out during a long chat with Tivo.

If you are on TE3 (rep called it classic TE3 software) you will not have ads so no need to call.

If you are on TE3 and go to TE4 do not call until you start seeing ads as they can not put in an opt out request until you are seeing ads.

If you are already on TE4 do not call until you start seeing ads as once again they can do nothing until you are actually seeing the ads.
 
#973 ·
I could see TiVo offering the same "feature" to MSO's, though, to allow them to insert their own ads. The ad catalog would be the MSO's, but TiVo would still get their taste.
Or TiVo does the ads and the MSO gets a cut of the action.
 
#975 ·
Joe, a plaintiff has to have standing to sue, generally meaning, a direct, personal harm from the challenged action; there also needs to be a legal obligation between the parties, that was breached. Thus, I can't sue as a consumer, e.g., TiVo (or Hasbro or AT&T) for the business directions they take, absent my being directly harmed by them and the companies having a legal obligation to me. I just don't see the latter here (and with the former being problematic as well), especially in the face of the user agreements and absent their somehow being held not to be enforceable.

I can guarantee you, a law firm will be concerned about how it is going to be paid. This especially is the case in non-monetary damages cases, where the law firm would have to count on the good graces of the judge in determining the social or other good that the law firm has done, assuming that the law being applied provides for the award of attorneys' fees to begin with.
 
#977 · (Edited)
That would mean in a situation where there is a proven pattern of misrepresentation by a company, the plaintiff would have no standing to sue. Doesn't really seem logically possible. That's why I say no one really knows, until you ask firms that do this legation, and even get more than one opinion.

Maybe you're thinking of Tort Law. :)
 
#980 ·
Is there a phone number I can call to have all the lawsuit talk removed from my account because those posts are completely ruining my Tivo Community Experience.

Seriously though, not to be a turd in the punch bowl but could that be split off into another thread and leave this one just for the meltdown/approval of ads?
 
#984 ·
Considering the near-universal disdain for these pre-roll ads that we see in comments here and on Twitter, I suspect the most effective approach, at least if TiVo weren't letting you just opt out of them by calling, is to organize an active campaign against the advertisers who purchase slots on these pre-roll ads. A visible, vocal, active campaign against them can do wonders with enough participation. But other than making an extremely adverse choice to do this at all, I don't think it has yet reached the point where that is the appropriate way to address this.
 
#986 ·
Can confirm pre-roll ads have been removed from my system after calling Tivo on Sunday.. HOWEVER, the guide ads are stil there. Will call them today. These are extremely annoying, i have memory of where specific channels are, now everything is all dorked up.
Guide ads were one of the reasons I dumped DirecTv and their overpriced DVR/HD/Multiroom package.
 
#987 · (Edited)
Wow 50 pages! I last checked the other day and it was only 30! I came back to try and make it 51...

I have really enjoyed my tivos over the years in that they just work and work well. My tivos (now using a Bolt + Mini and a Premiere) are pretty deeply intertwined in my home entertainment system (I even bought a Middle Atlantic custom shelf for the Premiere a year ago) so I won't be removing them just yet. But if ads start showing up in TE3, I will be infuriated. I will use all technical means available to block them. If ads throughout the UI are indeed the future, I will not purchase any new tivo hardware and advise others to do the same.

As for alternatives, i feel the HD homerun based solutions are cool DIY projects, but too spendy in terms of hardware & user tweaking required on top of still needing a subscription of some sort for guide data. Maybe I'll look into Channelmaster DVRs or similar one box solutions. If I find nothing useful, I guess I will eventually just forget about DVRing broadcast TV.
 
#988 ·
My reason for buying Tivo and paying a monthly service fee was to have a better TV experience than Comcast. Clearly it looks like I will be cancelling my Tivo account and finally use the Comcast STB that was sent to me free with my service. The last thing I am interested in doing is being made to watch commercials, even though their is a bypass, for a product that I pay a monthly service fee. This new change in the Tivo business model has taken the premium quality view that I have had regarding the Tivo product.
My apologies, I didn't read all of the other posts on the topic. I am sure that what I have said has been repeated over-and-over again, so thank you for letting me vent.
 
#990 ·
We have a new Bolt OTA, and as of yet no ads. Maybe if every time there was an ad, we all notify the advertiser, that we will be boycotting the product. They may decide to pull the ad from TIVO. It may not get rid of them all but cut down on the amount. We're still too dependent on TIVO to let this be a deal breaker for us. Plus, when you've already purchased the lifetime, there isn't much leverage to say we're leaving. Sorry if somebody suggested this already, but I didn't want to go through all the posts.
 
#994 ·
Please stop debating about class action lawsuits. If you are upset and want to file one, go do something about it. Contact a lawyer and when you find one that will take your case, come back here to let those interested know about it.

Endless debate about contract and consumer law by non-lawyers on these boards gives me a headache.

Also, if you’ve already posted how upset you are with this decision by TiVo, the internet has recorded it and will keep it out there for everyone to see. There’s no need to have multiple posts from you about your first world problems.
 
#998 ·
I am truly saddened by what Tivo is doing. I have been a loyal Tivo customer since the early DirecTv Tivo days and even left DirecTv because of their split with Tivo. Unfortunately I do not use any of the streaming capabilities of the Tivo because in my experience all the apps are worst then the ones built into the Smart TVs. I love using the Tivo for OnePasses for my cable but I have the distinct feeling from reading through this thread that my customer desires/needs are getting too misaligned with what Tivo is delivering and it is approaching the breaking point. I am not dropping them yet. But I feel that day is coming real soon. There are more and more streaming services and we find ourselves watching more of them and less cable.

Lou
 
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#999 ·
Fight what's wrong or bend over. I rather fight than catch a social transmitted disease of except nothing and get nothing.

On one hand a few say they are tired hearing the solutions, one the other hand they want to talk about the problem only until it is an acceptable problem, but both their hands are flat and firmly planted on the floor.
 
#1,001 ·
Fight what's wrong or bend over. I rather fight than catch a social transmitted disease of except nothing and get nothing.

On one hand a few say they are tired hearing the solutions, one the other hand they want to talk about the problem only until it is an acceptable problem, but both their hands are flat and firmly planted on the floor.
The operative term. Some of us, in analyzing matters, just don't see it here (as a legal/contractual matter).
 
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#1,004 · (Edited)
I'm facing the reality of the law and facts as I see them here, not trying to do anything else. But of course, that's judgment . . . . ;) I'm not saying that people can't react otherwise, and there can be a benefit to that.* E.g. expressing views publicly, on Twitter and Facebook; contacting the company. (And, dare I say it, even ultimately non-meritorious lawsuits can serve a purpose.)

* And I'm not denying that maybe my analysis just could be wrong, or there could be other factors.
 
#1,008 ·
For those getting the pre-roll ads, has the transition into and back from the pre-roll been smoothed out into a more seamless system? The original video of the pre-roll seemed a bit, er, clunky. ;)

(I realize that it's only been around a week since pre-roll came out, affording TiVo's engineers little time to work on this, if that's even an intent of the company.)
 
#1,039 ·
Absolutely. I moved a Premiere Lifetime to a new Bolt during the last sale. Had several weeks of use prior to pre-rolls. Blue circle delays galore when it hit. Removing them fixed everything. Just an awful implementation of a bad idea. I would expect that anybody calling in to complain when they eventually are afflicted will be allowed to opt out. It sounds like they are doing this on an account level, not box related.
 
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