Philips Forces You To Watch Commercials

Posted by John Goulden Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment

Rumors have circulated the Internet for some time about the various methods broadcasters might employ to get time-shifting viewers to watch commercials.  Let’s face facts - the revenue generated by the commercials does pay (in part) for the television we watch, but at the same time, no one typically wants to watch said commercials.  Those of us with PVRs have a hard time understanding how people without them can stand to watch television.  Commercials typically occupy more than 20% of the airtime for a given show, and the percentage seems to grow all the time.

Thanks to

Philips Electronics, the option to choose whether to skip a commercial or not may be a thing of the past.  They’ve been awarded a patent for a technology that would prevent you from skipping commercials, or even from switching to another channel while a commercial is playing.  To quote C|Net, “Viewers would be released from the freeze only after paying a fee to the broadcaster. The freeze would be implemented on a program-by-program basis, giving viewers a choice at the start of each one.  According to a recently published patent, the apparatus could work inside a set-top box. It would use the standard Multimedia Home Platform to receive a first control signal and then respond by taking control of the TV. The MHP would also be capable of sending the payment information that would lift the freeze, as it does when authorizing pay-per-view content.”

Keep in mind that the device doesn’t actually exist as of yet, but it’s easy to imagine that such a device could one day be implemented.  Given the negative backlash that would incur from the viewers, we can only wonder about the ultimate outcome.

Read More | C|Net