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Furious over new advertisements in iTunes content.

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bryan85

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 18, 2010
243
3
I just downloaded season 5 episode 2 of Sons of Anarchy to find the first 23 seconds of the episode is an advertisement! I am ****in livid! This is ********!!! I ****in payed full price for a season pass and now I am being forced to watch advertisements. I am so furious right now that I cant even enjoy the show that I just downloaded. I feel as thought a serious amount of trust has been broken here. Im in so much disbelief right now. I will never buy content from iTunes again. :mad:
 
MonkeySee....

MonkeySee....

macrumors 68040
Sep 24, 2010
3,858
437
UK
Really? I'm surprised. You would have though they would have put up an "agree to terms" window that says they will add adverts.

I agree, its pretty poor. What network is this show on?
 
4God

4God

macrumors 68020
Apr 5, 2005
2,132
267
My Mac
Whoa, that sucks. That's the first I've heard of such a thing. I thought if we paid for episodes/seasons then we wouldn't have to deal with this. Shame.
 
MonkeySee....

MonkeySee....

macrumors 68040
Sep 24, 2010
3,858
437
UK
bryan85 said:
fx
Click to expand...

mmmm something to keep an eye on. Thanks for the heads up. Wonder if the UK will get this too. :(

----------

Edit:

Just had a thought. I wonder if this is due to deals being made with Networks for the new Apple TV Set top box and thats why we are starting to see ads.


*ponders*
 
4God

4God

macrumors 68020
Apr 5, 2005
2,132
267
My Mac
MonkeySee.... said:
mmmm something to keep an eye on. Thanks for the heads up. Wonder if the UK will get this too. :(

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Edit:

Just had a thought. I wonder if this is due to deals being made with Networks for the new Apple TV Set top box and thats why we are starting to see ads.


*ponders*
Click to expand...

I would still think that if you pay for a season/episode you shouldn't have to view ads. Or at least there should be an option to pay a lesser fee and agree to ads.
 
B

brentsg

macrumors 68040
Oct 15, 2008
3,578
936
Thanks for the heads up. I definitely won't be buying any content with ads. What was the ad for?
 
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NightStorm

macrumors 68000
Jan 26, 2006
1,860
66
Whitehouse, OH
As mentioned above, Fox has been doing this for some time now. Comedy Central did it for awhile as well, but I think they've backed off of it now.
 
NT1440

NT1440

macrumors G5
May 18, 2008
14,622
20,815
4God said:
I would still think that if you pay for a season/episode you shouldn't have to view ads. Or at least there should be an option to pay a lesser fee and agree to ads.
Click to expand...

That would be awesome, but entirely up to the content provider.
 
s15119

s15119

macrumors 68000
Nov 20, 2010
1,856
1,714
bryan85 said:
I just downloaded season 5 episode 2 of Sons of Anarchy to find the first 23 seconds of the episode is an advertisement! I am ****in livid! This is ********!!! I ****in payed full price for a season pass and now I am being forced to watch advertisements. I am so furious right now that I cant even enjoy the show that I just downloaded. I feel as thought a serious amount of trust has been broken here. Im in so much disbelief right now. I will never buy content from iTunes again. :mad:
Click to expand...

Over-react much? It's amazing the things that get people so upset they have to type *****. Most certainly first world problems. 23 Seconds you will never, ever get back.
 
R

Rigby

macrumors 603
Aug 5, 2008
6,222
10,168
San Jose, CA
I agree that this is unacceptable considering the prices for TV shows on iTunes. What's next, commercial breaks every 5 minutes in our paid content? :mad:

At the very least Apple needs to disclose on the store page if an episode contains advertisements. Please make sure to write a short review if you encounter something like this, so others are warned.

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NightStorm said:
As mentioned above, Fox has been doing this for some time now.
Click to expand...
Which Fox shows are affected? The only FX show I have is Justified, and that did not have ads so far.
 
bpaluzzi

bpaluzzi

macrumors 6502a
Sep 2, 2010
918
1
London
iisforiphone said:
im pretty sure DVDS have ads at the begining too, and you pay for those
Click to expand...

Yup, and movies in the theater.
And premium cable, a la HBO / Showtime.
And standard cable.
And magazines.
And newspapers.

All of which you pay for.

If you're really this upset about receiving advertisements just because "OMG I PAID FOR THIS", that reflects more on you than it does on Apple/FX.
 
R

Rigby

macrumors 603
Aug 5, 2008
6,222
10,168
San Jose, CA
I have never seen a TV show DVD that has ads before every single episode. Usually they have some easily skippable movie trailers when you insert the DVD, nothing more.
 
B

bryan85

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 18, 2010
243
3
MonkeySee.... said:
Are these ad's for products or other shows they produce?
Click to expand...

It was an ad for the network FX and some of their shows.

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bpaluzzi said:
Yup, and movies in the theater.
And premium cable, a la HBO / Showtime.
And standard cable.
And magazines.
And newspapers.

All of which you pay for.

If you're really this upset about receiving advertisements just because "OMG I PAID FOR THIS", that reflects more on you than it does on Apple/FX.
Click to expand...

I don't got to the movies often for multiple reasons.
I don't have cable for the past 10 years because I can't stand advertisements.
No magazines, or newspaper.
I run a browser with adblock to kill what doesn't get caught at the DNS level.

The reason I was so upset is because I felt duped. Apple normally doesn't have advertisements and with that I have been selling all of my physical media for iTunes content. Now I have found out the hard way that they do allow advertising in their content and it's very frustrating having made the commitment to convert all of my content.
 
2

26139

Suspended
Dec 27, 2003
4,315
377
Well...

Technically, you didn't pay full price, you paid a license fee to iTunes that allowed you to download and view the content.

Without advertising support, we'd pay a lot more for video from iTunes and similar.

23 seconds though? Seriously? That's either 10 or 5% of the show. Seems reasonable to me.

Disappointing, sure.
 
R

Rigby

macrumors 603
Aug 5, 2008
6,222
10,168
San Jose, CA
26139 said:
Technically, you didn't pay full price, you paid a license fee to iTunes that allowed you to download and view the content.
Click to expand...
What does that even mean? :confused: Of course we paid full price. And quite often the shows are equally or even more expensive on iTunes than on DVD/Blu-ray.
Without advertising support, we'd pay a lot more for video from iTunes and similar.
Click to expand...
Given that so far shows/movies on iTunes didn't have any ads, I don't understand how you come to this conclusion.

I really do not like this, since one of the main reasons why I buy shows on iTunes is to escape the ads, especially on network shows. If this takes hold, I for one will look for alternatives.
 
B

bryan85

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 18, 2010
243
3
26139 said:
Technically, you didn't pay full price, you paid a license fee to iTunes that allowed you to download and view the content.

Without advertising support, we'd pay a lot more for video from iTunes and similar.

23 seconds though? Seriously? That's either 10 or 5% of the show. Seems reasonable to me.

Disappointing, sure.
Click to expand...

I most definitely paid full price for my content. $35 or so for a season pass. The same amount or if not more than what it would cost for the Blu-Ray equivalent.
 
bpaluzzi

bpaluzzi

macrumors 6502a
Sep 2, 2010
918
1
London
bryan85 said:
I most definitely paid full price for my content. $35 or so for a season pass. The same amount or if not more than what it would cost for the Blu-Ray equivalent.
Click to expand...

The Blu-Ray equivalent which is also subsidized by ads. That's the point.
 
2

26139

Suspended
Dec 27, 2003
4,315
377
Huh?

Uh guys, you really don't think the price iTunes charges for completely makes up for the millions of dollars it costs to produce and market TV shows, do you?

Even if a super-popular show was supported entirely by $35/season downloads, it wouldn't be enough to cover the cost of producing it. The overage is paid for by advertisers that pay money to the production studios.

Network shows can't currently exist without some kind of advertising. The market that purchases content online do not, as of this time, completely cover the cost of production.

Maybe for stuff like Louie, sure. But not the bigger network shows.
 
B

bryan85

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 18, 2010
243
3
bpaluzzi said:
The Blu-Ray equivalent which is also subsidized by ads. That's the point.
Click to expand...

I understand the point, but also understand that Apple has set a precedent with no advertisements in their content. This is a huge deal to some, a major selling point. They are now allowing content providers to include advertisement in the content. This is a big shift in Apple's policy(set by precedent), and they did so without warning the consumer.
 
B

brentsg

macrumors 68040
Oct 15, 2008
3,578
936
bryan85 said:
I understand the point, but also understand that Apple has set a precedent with no advertisements in their content. This is a huge deal to some, a major selling point. They are now allowing content providers to include advertisement in the content. This is a big shift in Apple's policy(set by precedent), and they did so without warning the consumer.
Click to expand...

I agree with this completely.

I actually buy some iTunes TV content simply because I work out while watching and don't want to mess with watching/skipping commercials because it's inconvenient. Plus when streamed, who wants an ad per episode? I'd prefer to buy on Blu-ray and rip myself if that's where we're headed.

Of course everyone has their own tolerance level for these things.
 
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