Jay, not in the slightest. I would never say that. I'm merely pointing out that skipping commercials is shirking our responsibility that goes along with the benefit of "free" television.

I think there SHOULD be a law against fast forwarding.

Also against going for a snack during the commercial, or going to the computer to read these posts.

People should be forced to read ALL spam.

It should be against the law to NOT look at ALL billboards while driving.

You MUST tailgate and change lanes constantly so you don't miss any bumper stickers.

ALL clothing should have logos and text.

Popup stoppers should be illegal.

Everyone should be forced to ride a bus once a week to see the advertising.

I'm glad we have to pay the cablevision companies to broadcast commercial-laden crap.

We should NEVER be allowed to hangup on telemarketers.

We should never be allowed to mute that terrible singing in the neverending Viagra commercials.

Not only that, but we should have to believe that advertising is always truthful and that we NEED
all these drugs that we have to be sure to ask our doctor if it is "right for us".

I say duct tape over the fastforward buttons and NEVER change channels unless there is no commercial playing.

I just bought a DVD player yesterday for $39.07 USD.

Works pretty well so far.

Kelly, thanks for the clarification!

By the way, I pay for my television viewing (having DirecTV). I can remember way back when the idea of "pay t.v." was first being introduced. One of the selling points, at that time, was "with paid television, there will be no commercials." Guess they forgot that part.

However, I can not agree with the idea that I (or anyone else) have any responsibility or obligation to watch a television commercial. Nothing could be further from the truth.

My point is, saying that a person must watch commercials on television is not a function of "government." It is a fuction of the free enterprise system--no more, no less.

Jay

My point exactly, Buster! I think everyone who watches anything other than broadcast t.v. can spring for a $40 DVD player--better picture, better sound, for less money.

Jay

Jay, I was referring to production time, not duplicating. I just about cover costs for dubs - $10 VHS and $8 DVD, and my income is made from the main project - scripting, shooting, editing, creating music and mastering programs. I hardly ever get near 2 hours - usually half an hour.

To take advantage of the extra things DVD can deliver, I take a lot of care designing menus, chapters, navigation etc, and include extra screens of information, contact details etc. That's why I charge extra to produce a DVD version.

Jay, yes, my point exactly too. We seem to agree exactly.

I'm not familiar with the details of DirecTV, but i was under the impression that all you paid for was the delivery of the channels. I didn't think it was "pay TV" any more than something like Time Warner cable is.

WHAT?

HBO doesn't have advertisements?

How did you get THAT version of HBO? My version had tons of commercials, mostly selling HBO and its programs. And I mean TONS of them. A run of 10 minutes of commercials all strung together is not at all unusual. Neither is 15 minutes, come to think of it.