No commercials was once one of the big selling points for cable, and we know how that turned out
We’ve tasted ad-less video entertainment and found it good. That said, for at least half a century OTA network TV required watching ads and most people didn’t care much because they didn’t have to pay cash for the service. I think many/most people have the capacity to tolerate ads to get what they want.
Fondots@lemmy.world 10 months ago
lemmyvore@feddit.nl 10 months ago
Except that’s a myth and never happened. TV on all its forms had ads immediately as it appeared, because it was the same concept as radio: when you have a captive audience waiting to get the programming in order, you can insert anything you want.
Cable promised higher quality programming, exclusive access, higher quality image etc. but never no ads. Sounds familiar?
ManosTheHandsOfFate@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Yes, and interestingly the earliest cable TV in the US was built to relay broadcast channels to valleys where the signal wouldn’t otherwise reach.
Pregnenolone@lemmy.world 10 months ago
In Australia there were laws preventing our cable provider from showing ads in the first two years. Now they can show ads but cannot earn more than 50% revenue from ads.
ElectroNeutrino@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I think it’s less to do with the fact that ads exist, and more to do with how intrusive they are. Early YouTube ads were pretty tame compared to the ones today, especially when it was just banner ads.