Local Commercials on National Channels?

[dare2be]

I would need confirmation from other users or myself before I believe it. Are you sure you weren't a victim of the "skip back" problem and went too far back in the commercial block?

The buffer is the final end point of the transmission/stream, so if you saw it, it should remain stored in the buffer when you go back.

Which national channel was it? What time frame (morning, afternoon, primetime, etc.)?

 

[Hall]

While watching one of the national channels, there was a commercial for recall election going on in our state. I thought it would be odd for one of the parties to be spending money to hit viewers across the nation for a state election, so I hit the back button. Strangely enough, the commercial wasn't there - instead it was a Nutrasystem ad.

I bolded the relevant parts as I think some didn't catch clearly what you encountered.

 

[SRW1000]

Update: This just happened again tonight. I'd rather not specify the channel, since I don't want to take the chance of this turning into a political debate. Let's just say it's one of the national news/commentary channels.

This time, I happened to be watching on delay. Usually I'll skip through the commercials, but this time I wasn't paying that much attention, and just let it roll. Again, a commercial ran for the recall election happening here in Wisconsin. I could pause it, and continue playing it. Once it was over, I hit the skip back button and it went to a point before the local commercial had started. It fails to show up again when either rewinding or fast-forwarding.

I think JM42 had it right. I'm still wondering if the local ads are delivered via satellite, or perhaps the internet. The commercial itself looked like it was SD, and almost matched what one might expect to see from something that was delivered via the internet connection.

If it had not been for a local election or service, it's unlikely that I would have ever noticed that it was local.

Scott

 

[Hall]

You're testing this and didn't know it, huh ?

 

[dare2be]

Sorry for doubting you initially, SRW. I wonder if this is a special situation with the recall election, because I have seen overlays of local commercials on national ones (sometimes you see the national commercial start for a split second before the local one kicks in) and they have always been recorded into the buffer stream.

 

[videonex]

Dish and DirecTV don't do the insertion of the local ads. The local affiliates do.

Not on the cable channels like ESPN, CNN, etc. That's what we are talking about here! CBS, NBC, ABC You're right.

 

[videonex]

OK, I see what's happening now. It's a different scenario than I thought they would have to use for the process, but it makes sense and eliminates just about all of the issues in the scenario I was using. Cable has always sold local spots and that was a disadvantage for the sat ppl. Now they have a chance to even the playing field.

 

[The Fat Man]

NESN has recently had very local advertising. It must be only to certain zip codes because the businesses are way too small to be advertising to Boston, or NH, or RI......

At least NESN is a RSN. So it's logical for a company to do so.

 

[The Fat Man]

As long as it isn't a complete mess, like it was when cable companies began doing it 15 years ago. I remember back when I had to pay for a "new channel package" with the old AT&T Broadband. This was around the time of South Park's first season. The company didn't know how to sync with Comedy Central's commercial times and wound up cutting off large chunks of programming. The April Fool's episode when they teased the completion of Who's Cartman's Father, but showed Terence and Phillip was completely confusing to people in our area because local ads cut off three minutes of the beginning of the episode and more time throughout. Hopefully satellite is smarter.

 

[videonex]

The company didn't know how to sync with Comedy Central's commercial times and wound up cutting off large chunks of programming. The April Fool's episode when they teased the completion of Who's Cartman's Father, but showed Terence and Phillip was completely confusing to people in our area because local ads cut off three minutes of the beginning of the episode and more time throughout. Hopefully satellite is smarter.

That seems to be the biggest problem with cable's local insertion. Even see it to a degree when Dish inserts their stuff nationally. Usually only a second or a little less off. That's sometimes how you can tell it's Dish's commercial and not the network's. If the spot is pre-loaded on your receiver first, that may help but I doubt it's fool proof.

 

[GaryPen]

Not on the cable channels like ESPN, CNN, etc. That's what we are talking about here! CBS, NBC, ABC You're right.

I see. That was never specified in the original posts. Those channels are generally referred to as "cable" channels, not "national" channels. Hence, the confusion on my part.

 

[Hall]

I own a 722k.

Yes they are starting to screw around with local ad insertion.

Hmmm, so Dish has "auto hop" technology included in more receivers than just the Hopper !

 

[LMW]

I’m a bit confused here. By “national network” do we mean ABC, CBS. NBC and Fox, or cable-sat only networks such as CNN and ESPN?

 

[videonex]

I was working with cable nets since that would have been the only logical source for the question. Local channels have inserted local ads in network programming since the ice age.

 

[whatchel1]

True that the national nets have open positions for the providers, cable sat etc, to insert their own ads or promos, for the sat providers, like Dish or DirecTV to sell and insert ads on a local level, or regionally specific level although I would think technically possible would be fiscally not prudent, or at least technically unfeasible because it would take extra bandwidth which they are crying they don't have. The OP is indicating a local or regional ad ran on a national network on Dish. I've yet to see that sort of thing happen. Closest would be on an RSN which is part national programming but done locally and would be easy to insert local ads. Cable of course does it all the time. Easy for them, since local or regional head ends insert the local stuff. Satellite would have to use separate spot beams for the local ads and then re map your receiver to switch to the ad transponder when needed and then switch you back to the regular feed when done. It would probably be sloppy at best in clean transitions, and then the extra bandwidth comes into play. He does indicate that his DVR recorded a national ad in that same position. Maybe they are doing the local spot beam thing but it only maps the receiver to show the local ad but not interrupt the feed to the recording?

I think you are starting to see that the model you are stating here is not the case. I've seen a couple of replies in the thread from you that indicate you are starting to see what is happening. All it takes is a trigger to have the local ad roll. They are doing that from their servers at the uplinks. It will be an insertion into the stream of the programs by zip. So it will record on the programs as they play out. They do the same thing w/ the E* ads nationwide. Not additional bandwidth needed since they are already using the spots tied to zip anyway.

 

[videonex]

I think you are starting to see that the model you are stating here is not the case. I've seen a couple of replies in the thread from you that indicate you are starting to see what is happening. All it takes is a trigger to have the local ad roll. They are doing that from their servers at the uplinks. It will be an insertion into the stream of the programs by zip. So it will record on the programs as they play out. They do the same thing w/ the E* ads nationwide. Not additional bandwidth needed since they are already using the spots tied to zip anyway.

Exactly. I was not aware of the technology that is apparently now being used and my earlier answer was based on what I believed was the technology needed to do it. I indicated that I now understood the new technology in place and appreciated it's relative simplicity. Satellite providers were at a disadvantage for years because of the lack of ability to sell local ads because the delivery would have been more trouble than the ads would pay for. Now they have a way to do it that is cost effective and allows them to access that revenue stream that cable has always had.