I'm posting this poll in response to Screature's comment in the thread about obnoxiously loud TV commercials, in which I had complained about how small the mute button is on most remotes, and he said
Given that in every home I've been in, I've noticed that the mute button on the remote is nearly worn out, and it's by far the most-used button any remote I've ever seen, I can't believe this is the case.
So, how often do you use the mute button on your TV remote.
Personally, I like the commercial breaks. Been watching some things online or on my computer without commercials, and it actually gets a little bit wearying to not have natural breaks--I just hit pause and then come back to it, so it's not like this is insurmountable.
Perhaps I'm just acclimatized after my many years of watching TV with commercials to expect breaks at regular intervals, or perhaps it's that the TV shows are scripted to have breaks (so it feels unnatural without them.) But I have no problem with commercials if they just weren't so loud....
If I am not jumping up and doing something else, then every time I am watching and a commercial break rolls around.
I seriously wonder what it must be like to be at a hockey or football game and have everything grind to a stop for 4-5 minutes so the broadcaster can run a series of canned commercials that the viewing audience simply tunes out. Seems to me with a little imagination, modern tech would allow them to run silent commercials in a side panel during short breaks in the action. Probably a lot more impact than current methods.
Good heavens I can remember Esso and BA running white letter over commercials during hockey and football games back in the early sixties. So obviously the technique works.
OTOH I have no idea who sponsored the NFL playoff game I watched last Sunday.
I'm posting this poll in response to Screature's comment in the thread about obnoxiously loud TV commercials, in which I had complained about how small the mute button is on most remotes, and he said
Given that in every home I've been in, I've noticed that the mute button on the remote is nearly worn out, and it's by far the most-used button any remote I've ever seen, I can't believe this is the case.
So, how often do you use the mute button on your TV remote.
I think I tend to go more for the mute button because the volume button is just too slow to spill unwanted volume. Obviously those with more responsive volume controls or commercials that come in at something less than 4x the program levels might prefer a different response.
If I leave the room I leave the commercials running. A reduction in volume tells me the program has returned.
No matter how I choose to deal with commercials, I do seem to effectively tune them out.
I'm posting this poll in response to Screature's comment in the thread about obnoxiously loud TV commercials, in which I had complained about how small the mute button is on most remotes, and he said
Quote:
Originally Posted by screature View Post Hyperbole much?
The mute button is small because it is rarely used by the majority of watchers. Geesh...
Given that in every home I've been in, I've noticed that the mute button on the remote is nearly worn out, and it's by far the most-used button any remote I've ever seen, I can't believe this is the case.
So, how often do you use the mute button on your TV remote.
I posted the poll because I was genuinely surprised by your contention that the mute button is rarely used by most people. This is completely inconsistent with my experience, but I'm certainly willing to accept that my experience is not reflective of the general reality, and I was curious.
It's too early to say, but it appears that we're both wrong. Lots of people do use the mute button frequently, but lots of people just turn the volume down using the volume control. I wonder how many people use the volume control because the mute button is so damned small and hard to find?
It's too early to say, but it appears that we're both wrong. Lots of people do use the mute button frequently, but lots of people just turn the volume down using the volume control. I wonder how many people use the volume control because the mute button is so damned small and hard to find?
Frankly, I think the remote has too many damn buttons. CH+-, Vol+-, power and maybe a source button. That's 6. When was the last time you saw a 6-button remote?
Instead they are all giant and complicated. Bah.
Actually, the current reason I don't use the mute button is that the batteries in my TV remote ran out months ago, so I've been using the DVD remote to work the TV instead. ( Path of least resistance. Don't judge me.) There's no mute button on that remote.
I rarely watch television, but when I do, I never use the mute button. I do find the commercials over loud and often irritating. However, I always record any program I want to watch, so I simply fast-forward through them.
So of the couple of dozen who responded to this so far, about half of us use the mute button "often" or more, and most of the rest of us are using some other approach to avoid the ads.
Not consistent with Screature's contention that the "mute button is small because it is rarely used by the majority of watchers" and somewhat consistent with my view that TVs are primarily a vehicle for advertising. What I haven't been thinking about is that PVRs etc. are tools that mitigate against advertising even better than the mute button, and their emergence is good evidence that the scourge of TV advertising is more than moderately annoying to most viewers.
If anyone here works in marketing, this may be an interesting observation.
Advertisers know that, and TV has been primarily a vehicle for advertisers for a long time. (I think from the beginning? My history on this is a touch foggy.)
People have hated commercials for a long time. But it still works, or is perceived to work, well enough to continue using it as a vehicle for advertising.
I'd like some kind of an auto-detection ducking feature that brings the level down to, say, 15% during commercials (which tend to overcompensate with volume anyway) so that the volume stays fairly consistent throughout the TV watching experience. If they can build ducking into iMovie, I'd imagine they could build it into the first full-size AppleTV. Of course, the advertisers would hate it.
I'd like some kind of an auto-detection ducking feature that brings the level down to, say, 15% during commercials (which tend to overcompensate with volume anyway) so that the volume stays fairly consistent throughout the TV watching experience. If they can build ducking into iMovie, I'd imagine they could build it into the first full-size AppleTV. Of course, the advertisers would hate it.
Don't have cable anymore. Family used mute quite a bit since many shows have obnoxiously louder commercial breaks! Much quicker than adjusting volume.
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