
Kids in ‘Netflix Only’ Homes Saved from 230 Hours of Commercials a Year - joeyespo
http://exstreamist.com/report-kids-in-netflix-only-homes-are-being-saved-from-230-hours-of-commercials-a-year/
======
neals
I accidentally watched some TV the other day. Having not seen any regular
programming for at least a year, I was amazed at how much ... dumber it has
become. Also, why did we sit through so many commercials for so long? It feel
a little like a twilight zone episode, where we sit there watching a box
telling us what to buy.

~~~
nostrademons
I suspect regular programming isn't getting dumber, the alternatives are just
getting smarter.

When I look at the crap I watched as a kid in the 80s (which included a good
amount of 70s reruns), basically all broadcast TV today is far superior. But
the competition for broadcast TV isn't "no competition" now, it's the
Internet, and computer games, and Netflix. The entertainment industry has been
blown wide open by the Internet and computers, and so now they have to compete
with thousands of alternatives instead of just having 3 channels to choose
from. Naturally, quality goes up.

When I was a kid, the "rots your brain" videogame that my parents would only
let me play at friends' houses was Super Mario Brothers. Now, my "rots your
brain" pastime is Factorio, which is a game where people are literally
designing chips in:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/2vqzlx/8_bit_alu_...](https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/2vqzlx/8_bit_alu_with_registers/)

[https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/4aijlw/here_is_my...](https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/4aijlw/here_is_my_small_implementation_of_a_memory_array/)

~~~
jjeaff
One thing that is certain is that there are more commercials now. If you watch
an episode of The Big Bang Theory sans commercials, you will notice that it is
only 17 minutes long! And that includes the 60 second intro. So 13 minutes of
commercials for 16 minutes of actual content. No chance I'll be going back to
regular TV.

~~~
labster
To be fair, the commercials are the best part of watching _The Big Bang
Theory_. Much better to spend a few minutes imagining how cool I would be if I
just owned Product X rather than see a nerd minstrel show with an annoying
laugh track.

~~~
telekid
…really? "Nerd minstrel show?" Ah yes, we poor nerds, overcoming centuries of
repressive awkwardness and desk jobs.

~~~
jacobolus
Maybe an analogy in poor taste, but the premise of BBT is basically “look how
many negative stereotypes of scientists and engineers we can get our audience
to point and laugh at, if we take our lazy awkward mean-spirited writing and
put a laugh track over the top”.

Try searching for versions with laugh track removed to get a better sense of
the writing per se without the extra emotional manipulation.

Compare with _Silicon Valley_ , a comedy show which also mercilessly skewers
nerds, but more for the sake of social commentary than just piling on insults,
and which treats even the most caricatured characters with some dignity and
humanity.

~~~
PakG1
I find this sentiment interesting. I find BBT hilarious and identify with the
characters. I often drag my wife to watch a specific BBT episode to get her to
understand the way I think or understand the way I was in the past before I
met her. I don't find it demeaning at all. I often find it hilarious and say,
"yeah, that's me right there!" I see myself in Sheldon, Leonard, and Howard
all of them. Raj, not so much. I haven't watched enough of The IT Crowd that
people here on HN cite as being a better show to know what I think of it. The
few clips I've seen on YouTube, I've only seen the IT Crowd characters being
bullied more than I ever saw BBT characters get bullied. It's probably a
biased sample, maybe those clips are at the top of the list because people
like to watch nerds get bullied? I don't know. All I know is that I don't get
all the hate towards BBT.

~~~
rubyn00bie
It’s for those of us who aren’t able to express ourselves using the
characters. My family, friends, and outsiders use the stereotypes to label me
or describe me in ways I find incorrect. It’s not a knock against those it
does, I’m just incorrectly placed and it’s frustrating. In some ways, yes,
it’s hating the symptom and not the root, but I’m only human despite my
steadfast nihilism.

------
mmanfrin
I have an iPhone, an Amazon Echo, and a Google Home device. I recently had to
watch live TV because I was watching a sports game, and the number of ads that
targeted my listening devices was obscene. Every other ad was either for the
Echo or Home, or for something unrelated but mentioning 'Hey Siri, tell me
about [product being sold]'.

To me, it feels like it's an effort to subvert the always-listening/always-
watching tracking. If Google has now searched for some random thing being sold
because of that ad, then those ads will be shown to me when I browse on my
computer (since it's all part of the same profile).

It's intrusive, obnoxious, and I feel zero remorse doing anything to avoid ads
(such as use an ad blocker).

~~~
cvsh
>or for something unrelated but mentioning 'Hey Siri, tell me about [product
being sold]'.

What? Seriously? Commercials try to hijack your devices? Isn't this fairly
clear-cut unauthorized access of a computer system, and therefore criminal?

~~~
tonmoy
I think the GP means that the commercials show how you can ask Siri to search
for their product.

~~~
latexr
I think GP means the ads are actually trying to activate the devices:

> If Google has now searched for some random thing being sold because of that
> ad, then those ads will be shown to me when I browse on my computer

This isn’t unheard of. Burger King pulled that stunt to great success:
[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/business/burger-king-
tv-a...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/business/burger-king-tv-ad-google-
home.html)

------
scarface74
Cue the "I don't even own a TV crowd"....

97% of American Households own a television.

[https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/business/media/03televisi...](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/business/media/03television.html)

Then right behind them the "I don't subscribe to cable crowd and I don't
understand why people do"

75% of households still have cable or satellite.

[http://dailycaller.com/2017/04/24/a-stunning-number-of-
ameri...](http://dailycaller.com/2017/04/24/a-stunning-number-of-americans-no-
longer-have-cable-tv-says-report/)

And I'm one of the 25% that don't subscribe to cable but I refuse to call
myself a "cord cutter" because my entertainment still comes across a cord -
it's just not coax.

~~~
guitarsteve
I'm not sure if it's significant to the statistics, but Comcast has always
given me an internet+cable package for cheaper than the internet by itself. So
for my household, the cable box is just a big electronic coupon.

~~~
lev99
That smells fishy to me. I'd look for hidden fees and watch for price
increases.

~~~
zerocrates
Fees for things like local channels and local sports are endemic now, and it
seems the current stealth price increase in vogue is increased fees for
mandatory equipment rental.

------
gdilla
If you have kids who watch netflix, it's interesting how they recoil in
disgust at advertising interrupting a show. And it carries over to YouTube too
- if they see pre-roll they skip as soon as possible. It'll be interesting
when they're teens what kind of media related app will be the 'it' app for
them

~~~
on_and_off
Interesting.

The one good thing with ads on the web is that it works as a micropayment.

I wonder how a service like Youtube would work without ads ?

I currently have a no-ads subscription on Youtube (packaged with a google
music, so it is pretty attractive to me) but I don't think this service would
work as a gated subscribe only website.

~~~
evv
Brendon Eich is working on "Brave Browser", which aims to use Ethereum to
enable an ideal relationship between consumers, content producers, and
advertisers.

~~~
cyborgx7
A relationship that still includes advertisers is never ideal.

~~~
BrendanEich
No ads unless each user opts in, then only:

0\. Consent required for any ads at all, from user and (see 2) publisher if
involved.

1\. User private ads, anonymously confirmed (ANONIZE2 ZKP protocol, will move
on-chain when Ethereum supports it). Ad placement is signal- and cookie-free,
by a machine learning agent running only on device and looking at only your
on-device data (private sync uses secret key, no data in clear on any
servers), matching against common per region/language ad catalog listing edge
urls + keywords per ad.

2\. Revenue share of 70% to inventory (ad slot) owner, i.e., to the user in
(1). If publishers partner on indirect ad slots p, pub gets 70%, user gets
15%. In all cases users gets at least as much as Brave gets.

So users of Brave block ads and trackers by default. If you want to contribute
anonymously you can fund your user BAT wallet (we are doing initial grants).
Pinned a la Patreon contributions as well as private pro data by view count
and time send tokens in one transaction on chain per 30 days of uptime.

But when BAT ads are up and sharing revenue to users, the you can opt into
those to fill your wallet. If you want to can out, you will be able to, but
only via KYC (banking “Know Your Customer) level vetting. By default your
revenue will flow back to your pinned and supported sites and creators.

------
hristov
Sounds great but the sad reality is that Netflix shows have commercials inside
of them. I was really excited about this netflix show "love" until the
macdonalds product placement inside of it just made me sick and i stopped
watching it. I haven't been watching much original netflix shows since then,
but whenever i feel like peeking into a new show i notice product placements
pretty soon.

~~~
sigzero
ALL shows have product placement. Some more blatant than others. You can't get
around that.

~~~
herbst
That is simply not true, firstly most cartoons and anime, but also other shows
that come with a higher budget seem to be able to avoid product placements.

~~~
chomp
That's because those are the product. Pokemon is the best example of this. I
will concede that shows like Game of Thrones are very good at avoiding this,
but I'm tempted to propose that shows like that exist to sell HBO
subscriptions.

~~~
krallja
They also have a whole lot of merchandise available.

------
Skye
Meanwhile in the UK... there tends to be a lot less advertisements on TV, and
when shows from the US are played, there are points where they left room for
an ad-break, which isn't used. For the ultimate in no-advertising, you just
watch a BBC channel. Apparently there is a limit of 9 minutes of advertising
per hour according to this document from the regulator...
[https://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and-on-demand/broadcast-
co...](https://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and-on-demand/broadcast-codes/code-
tv-advertising/regulation-ad-minutage)

~~~
pizzapill
Afaik most countries in Europe have at least a couple of TV stations that are
really restricted when it comes to commercials. Usually supported by the
government and/or citizens.

I remember that we could receive government funded Austrian ORF 1 in Germany.
They usually showed the same movie as other German commercial TV stations at
the same time but without ads. Saving around 1 hour per movie.

~~~
Faark
There also is (was?) a daily limit on advertising for german stations, even
commercial. Thus barely any ads at night. Some shows even had to be classified
as add due to heavy product placement, so we barely got any other adds that
day.

------
alistproducer2
My kids are netflix babies and when I gave them a toys r us catalog to look
through to pick Christmas gifts out of they looked at it for 2 minutes, threw
it aside and didn't ask for anything. Without commercials, they have no sense
that they should even want the crap in a toy catalog. Big difference from when
I was growing up.

~~~
totalZero
Do they cry when you tell them spoilers?

On a serious note, I'm not sure how you managed to pull this off as a parent.
Two weeks ago I saw a young child of Asian tourist parents in the streets of
Manhattan, standing in front of a major chain drugstore and excitedly flagging
down the parents to bring attention to a prominently displayed colorful
plastic dump truck placed in the window display, precisely at baby level.

I want to figure out how to keep my future kids from doing that.

------
feverishaaron
Naw, kids from Netflix homes are just watching long-form commercials. Dino
Trucks, Nexo Knights and Ninjago all dominate my boys' Christmas wish lists
this year.

~~~
bllguo
at least Lego is a reasonably healthy toy, right?

~~~
megaman22
I'm a little disturbed how far in they've gone on the licensed content. But
I'm a child of the 90s that grew up with the classic System themes; I guess
kids aren't into non-Star Wars space, castle, pirate and Wild West Legos
anymore.

~~~
isostatic
Lego city is still popular, and playmobil do a large selection of various
castles.

------
alwaysnotright
I watched a lot of TV and commercials as a young kid on Cartoon Network,
Nickelodeon and Disney channels, commercials ranging from baby dolls, batman
and Lego. I wanted a lot of the stuff they showed on TV, and I got gifted a
lot, but not everything. I come from a middle class norwegian family which
meant that we could afford a lot of toys and stuff, but not everything at
once. I don't think it influenced me that much, but I certainly tried to
influence my parents to buy the crap which I had seen on TV. In retrospective,
I wish my parents had said "no" more to the crap I wanted and received, I
didn't need it at all and it was all a matter of my parents saying "no" more.

~~~
wutbrodo
One of the biggest blessings in disguise for me was not having much money as a
child[1]. From the moment we left college, I've made more money than all of my
close friends, and I somehow spend the least as well. We've talked pretty
openly about income and budgeting as we all entered adulthood and learned our
way around personal finance, and it's been fascinating to me to see how
wanting to purchase unnecessary things is this vice that my friends
consistently struggle with, to varying degrees. I don't have especially good
willpower: I just seem to be missing that urge almost entirely. My lifestyle
is far from ascetic, but the value bar for making something tempting to buy is
just set way higher for me for some reason. I buy everything I feel like; I
just don't tend to feel like things unless I think I'll get a lot of
enjoyment/value out of them relative to their price. In retrospect, a couple
years of disappointment before getting used to my mom saying "no" to most
purchase requests was a pretty small price to pay for not constantly
struggling against urges to spend irresponsibly.

------
gman83
I was thinking about this the other day, and I was wondering whether the fact
that my kids are not exposed at all to commercials might make them more
susceptible to advertising when they grow up.

~~~
technovader
Implying that watching more advertisements helps you develop a tolerance for
it.

~~~
viraptor
It does in a way. When I watched standard tv programmes years ago, the ads
would be a thing you have to go through, and try to ignore. Now they're not
tolerable - I'll choose not watching something over watching it with ads. Not
sure if it makes me more susceptible to ads I do see (unlikely, I barely but
anything anyway), but it limits the exposure a lot.

~~~
foobarian
The communist country I grew up in had TV commercials too, but their
commercial blocks came with 'begin' and 'end' jingles and were called
'Economy-propaganda programs.' Calling a spade a spade!

------
superflit
My kid has three years and because of me always watched Netflix Kids. Tried
Youtube Kids but too much "infomercials" and weird videos.

We went to grandmas house and once the commercials started he said:

"Daddy take this out.. This take out"

And I was kind surprise. He did not have the concept of Commercials and hate
it.

Now I think about myself, having to wait commercials and be woke up at certain
time to watch my favorite cartoons.

Love it, I only wish it was possible to have a password on Netflix Profiles.

------
deckarep
Every time someone is like: “what? You don’t have cable you weird person you!”
This is why. Got tired of paying a premium for commercials and over the years
the commercial breaks got longer, and longer and longer.

Hey cable subscribers...go ahead and channel surf and take some stats on how
often a commercial is playing as you iterate through each channel.

It’s ridiculous. Netflix is alright with me.

~~~
__david__
I'm a cable subscriber. I haven't watched an ad in nearly 20 years. DVRs
solved the ad problem years and years go.

(don't get me wrong—Netflix is great, too. And also torrents. Not even
thinking about ads is better than fast forwarding through them).

~~~
deckarep
I used to have a DVR and it did help of course. But I was never fond of having
to pay the rental fees of the unit for this feature. True it is still better.

------
dragonshed
My family and I 'cut the cord' in 2005, back when Netflix meant DVDs, and
other than access to sports, we haven't missed TV at all.

These days we use an Apple TV 4th Gen, with only Netflix, Plex and KPBS apps,
and I believe my kids are better off for it. They still have access to way too
much TV, but at least we know what they're seeing.

~~~
ashark
Unlimited streaming has its own problems, because your kids know it's never
_impossible_ for them to watch their favorite show, unlike with the bad old
days of Saturday morning cartoons and just a handful of OTA TV stations. You
can just say no, of course, but it's easier when you don't have to.

Actually, the entire Internet kinda presents the same problem for adults and
personal willpower.

~~~
otakucode
The 'problem' with willpower is not temptation. Temptation is only a problem
for those with no willpower who paradoxically want to believe that they do.
There are two solutions. Either study philosophy and come to understand why
you act the way you do and seek to modify that if desired... or actually
evaluate the real consequences of your actions and decide if whatever their
label might end up being whether the consequences are actually worth being
worried or ashamed about. Most often, people are worried about things that
harm no one, making their worry absolutely meaningless.

------
meesles
This would be fantastic news if the content was anything worthwhile. At the
end of the day, I'm not sure I care whether the kid is watching commercials or
some other inane show. It's still passive consumption.

Personally, of course I want less commercials. But being able to consume more
per minute isn't necessarily a good thing, IMO.

~~~
isostatic
My kids watched a show his morning which explained where eggs came from, and
what happens when they are heated - how the proteins change shape, how the
outside heats faster than the inside, etc. Also how bread is made, both
manually, then showed automated kneading (this is a show aimed at under 6s, so
anything beyond proteins changing shape seems excessive)

Yes it's passive, but it's still better than brainwashing then to buy
McDonald's

------
sytelus
This is one of the biggest advantage of not having an actual TV in the house.
We watch everything on demand ad-free on YouTube, Netflix, Xfinity Streaming
and Prime Video. The ads on TV even in kids specific programs are horrible. On
non-kids programs it's absolutely something kids shouldn't be watching.

Another huge advantage of not having actual TV in house is that we need to
watch everything on PC or tablet. This adds friction in the process compared
to just taking remote and press button. Also small kids typically will need
parents help to watch anything instead of just starting to flip channels by
themselves and exposing themselves to all commercial nastiness in very early
age.

Finally, once everything you want to watch is on demand, you have very
different mindset. You never rush for specific time to watch TV. Time after
dinner can be some activity. There is no compulsion that you must be first to
watch GoT right along your friends. All that silly competition dies out. Now a
days we watch many movies and TV series many years after they have been
released and we absolutely don't feel as if we missed out by not watching
right when they came out. Entertainment exists for us instead of other way
around.

I pity parents who still haven't figured this out and have actual TV sets in
their houses.

------
athenot
One side-effect of all these commercials is to shorten the attention span of
viewers. I feel that kids are taught to only get into a thought/storyline for
a maximum of 8 minutes then switch mental contexts 4 to 8 times before
returning to that original story. While I have no evidence about it, I don't
see how this can be healthy. In contrast my children watch shows with episodes
ranging from 12 minutes to full-length movies of 1h30 without interruption.

------
dsr_
Ahead of the curve here, we had TiVo and MythTV before the kids were old
enough to work the remotes. From way back then:

"Why can't we watch it again?"

"Pause this while I go to the bathroom."

"Hey, look, is that a toy?"

"Dad, why do people put up with commercials?"

And now that they're teenagers: "Dad, did you remember to record that show
that I forgot the name of and didn't remind you to set the recording?"

I guess some things don't change.

------
Animats
This is great. The next generation will view ads as abnormal.

~~~
whitepoplar
I don't think ads will ever go away, so my main hope is that ad targeting gets
so good that the industry is able to make the same amount of money (or less!)
while showing 10x fewer ads. Humanity is paying a huge cost at the moment for
inefficient ad placement.

~~~
isostatic
Or make 10 times as much with the level of adverts people are apparently happy
with now.

Which do you think is more likely?

------
kccqzy
> The average child watches 2.68 hours of television a day, or almost 980
> hours a year

That’s unusual. And it just reminds me of how different other people’s lives
could be. When I grew up, no one in the family liked watching television. I
still remember buying DVDs and watching those, but just not regular television
programming.

~~~
thomastjeffery
That's the confusing thing about averages. My experience was on the other end
of the spectrum: I watched TV quite a lot more growing up.

I think it would be more helpful to have a min max and mode than a mean.

~~~
isostatic
Median too. On average both Bill Gates, you and I are billionaires.

------
manishsharan
On the other hand, Kids in Netflix only homes are probably not exposed to news
and world events that does not come from Facebook and Twitter and other
filtered media. They are probably not exposed to opposing or uncomfortable
opinions and views.

Those Netflix only homes should at least get PBS.

~~~
kaybe
I'd argue that news is not for kids, unless it is specifically tailored to
them (eg the German public kids TV channel has special kids news (and no
ads)). It is easier to learn about the world's problems from less explicit
sources. News can be worse than horror films, which are at least known to be
fictional.

~~~
xxpor
I'm not really sure what you mean. It's actually frustrating how tame the news
is, at least in the US. If they actually showed the effects of war, the public
would be able to be more rational about the consequences.

I actually grew up watching PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.

~~~
isostatic
I grew up watching newsround, which is aimed at 10-15 year olds. There's a
massive difference between that and say the Ten oClock news, but there a
massive difference between the one, six and ten.

I would expect the Ten to have far more in depth and gruesome stories than
newsround. 10 year olds don't need to know the minutiae of human trafficking.

------
limaoscarjuliet
Father speaking here - kids are on youtube, being pushed way more commercials
than ever before.

~~~
jopsen
Isn't it you responsibility to push adblock in your kids?

Firefox for Android can block ads... But yes, it's much harder with tablets
and phones..

~~~
limaoscarjuliet
Yes, I'm pushing back. My statement was a response to the article, title of
which suggests that "just by switching from TV to Netflix we reduce children's
exposure to commercials". This statement is incorrect, as the kids are on
YouTube anyways, so little to no savings are done here.

------
cslarson
Took the family to see a kids movie yesterday. There was an like 30 minutes of
ads at the beginning. I don't think they realise how jarring that is and how
that's not something I want my kids to experience. Will reconsider going next
time.

~~~
isostatic
Normally films are Adverts-Trailers-Film

The trick is to arrive near the start of the trailers - they are adverts, but
personally I think they add to the cinema experience, as does overpriced
popcorn. The adverts though should be destroyed - just add 50p to the ticket,
it's not going to change anyone's decision of whether to go or not.

------
nickjj
Why is it just limited to kids?

It saves adults too.

Sure, an adult might switch channels during a commercial but your time is
still wasted because now you're filling the gap with random surfing rather
than consuming the content you're interested in.

It honestly surprises me at how cable providers managed to exist for so long
without getting a backlash from its customers.

A 1 hour show on American TV typically only has 42 minutes of actual content.
The other 18 minutes are filled with commercials.

You are losing 30% of that 1 hour off your life, not only that but you're
paying a premium to receive it. After removing special promo prices even basic
cable from most major providers is a lot more expensive than streaming
services.

------
stadeschuldt
In Germany we have public, non-commercial television channels for kids like
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KiKa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KiKa)

------
skate22
My parents would always agressivly mute commercials when i was a kid. I'm
pretty glad they did.

~~~
jvandonsel
Yeah, I also trained my kids from an early age to hit the mute button when a
commercial comes on. Without that magic button we can't possibly watch live
TV.

------
sharpercoder
Delivering ad-free content is potentially a billion-dollar business. I'd be
happy to pay a flat fee and read articles online, watch TV, movies,
documentaries et cetera ad-free. Off course, some content services offer this.
The problem is twofold: "new" services I discover still give me ads, and I
need to subscribe to many services to get ad-free content.

I much rather have one service I pay to resulting in many content providers
allowing me to consume ad-free content.

------
halamadrid
So we checked into a hotel today and my 4 year old decided to try TV for the
first time. His was initially frustrated with the time it took for him to find
a channel he thought he would like (Disney Junior). He had to hop through a
ton of channels and missed a few kid friendly channels as Ads were playing on
them.

Finally he found Disney Junior, and then the whole ad thing started. He was so
frustrated with all the ad breaks, he switched off the TV. Enough said.

------
TheBleak13
I can't watch normal cable TV anymore with all the commercials. I honestly
think there are more commercials and they're longer these days.

------
samstave
Commercials are mental cancer. Online ads are mental cancer.

Cancer pays.

People like money.

People are selfish.

They will opt for seeking for payment from cancer when given the option.

 __ _looking at you google_ __

------
habosa
I think I might be the only person I know that doesn't mind regular TV
commercials. They're actually 100x less annoying than your average online
commercial.

When I'm watching casual TV (not a serious drama or a movie) I don't mind the
interruption. Gives me a chance to think about something else, check my phone,
talk to someone, or walk away.

~~~
megaman22
At least with broadcast TV, you see different commercials once in a while.
Streaming, I usually see the same three ads played in a row every break. It
makes me actively hate and have negative associations with whatever product
they are trying to push.

------
ciconia
We've been a no-tv family since forever. We do have a Netflix subscription
(though we do find the selection of shows and movies too small, but still...)

My kids have a genuine aversion to commercials. With Netflix and YouTube, they
can watch content they choose without the constant interruption and"garbage
time" of TV.

------
znpy
Okay so here i am, jumping on the "look at me, no tv in more than five years!"
train.

I don't even own a tv. When i visit my parents and watch tv, quite frankly,
it's 95% trash + 5% stuff i have already seen on the Internet (but badly
translated in my native language).

------
dba7dba
Someone told me a conversation he happened to overhear in a restaurant in LA.
This was like 10+ years ago. He was having lunch at a restaurant and next to
him were 2 gentlemen working in the TV industry. The conversation was about
how the TV station/channel decided to increase ad time and this forced them to
re-edit all TV shows to be shorter.

One negative aspect of netflix is that my kids just endlessly scroll through
show after show, but doesn't actually watch it. And when they do, they rarely
finish it (meaning really enjoy or get into the show). It's like when you
don't really enjoy food when you have too much of it easily accessible.

So this new year, I'm even cutting netflix streaming service. Will see how
that goes.

------
zeep
PBS Kids has done the same in our home... and it's free (just need an
antenna)...

------
qwerty456127
Can't service providers just offer completely ad-free experience to those
willing to pay the price that would make this kind of subscriptions
commercially viable?

------
hendler
The exception has been the emergence of YouTube content which is not a normal
advertisement but designed to hold you or your children's attention.

This six year old child is making millions of dollars:
[http://wgntv.com/2017/12/11/this-6-year-old-is-making-
millio...](http://wgntv.com/2017/12/11/this-6-year-old-is-making-millions-
reviewing-toys-on-youtube/)

------
popman
Is there any foolproof way of detecting if some video or audio is a commercial
or not?

A TV tuner that just replaces commercials with a placeholder image and a
countdown to when the break is over would make broadcast TV just about
tolerable for me. (time-shift, and skipping past commercials is a better
solution, but there's some things you want to see live)

------
swamp40
Now Netflix just needs to accommodate kid's 3-5 minute attention span, which
is reason for YouTube's popularity - along with the quick and easy selection
of related content.

Then they could take over, and make parents much happier.

Maybe even happy enough to pay an extra $1.99 a month for trustworthy content
curation?

~~~
jimktrains2
> Now Netflix just needs to accommodate kid's 3-5 minute attention span

My 2yro just sat through the Nutcracker the other week. He sits and listens to
about half an hour of Dune each night. (We're just about to finish Dune
Messiah.) Sure I don't know how much he comprehends, but he's not fidgeting or
trying to find toys to play with.

He will also sit and build with Duplo-style bricks or wooden trains for hours,
and with those there is a visible engagement metrics.

(And yes, he does have his moments, and times where he does like to go from
thing to thing, but it's not constant just like the long spans of attention
aren't constant.)

I know it's n=1, but I don't believe that kids have an inherit and maximal 3-5
minute attention span.

------
narvind
There are 2 shows everyone seems to be talking about: Netflix and Bitcoin.

I need to tell my wife to record them on the VDR.

------
the_common_man
> The average child watches 2.68 hours of television a day, or almost 980
> hours a year

This is a very sad statistic. I cannot imagine what this non-stop television
consumption is doing to their brains. I am guessing this does not include the
tablet screen time which is another 3 hours per day or so.

~~~
coding123
It's pretty horrible - I grew up with about that much per day. I grew up
pretty successfully however I would have to admit that success is only due to
everyone else my age growing up like that. If I had to live by the rules of
the people we call fuddy-duddies we'd be totally f'd. The older generation
takes more time to do tasks right, spends time to talk to each other on the
phone, has a much stronger sense of belonging to the community around them. I
know this might get down-voted but it's absolutely true.

~~~
kaybe
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuddy-
duddy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuddy-duddy)

In case anyone else does not know.

------
jwatte
Add YouTube red (free with Google play music) for the family, and some NPR
presets on the radio, and the worst you'll hear are the terrible underwriting
credits...

It's been great!

------
fulafel
Quality public broadcasting solved this in Europe a while ago.

------
33degrees
I wonder how many hours of commercials a year are watched in homes where ipads
are the main source of entertainment; I’d wager it’s up there with regular
television.

~~~
noam87
considering YouTube makes me watch 25 seconds of advertising for a 40 second
video... could be a lot.

~~~
isostatic
YouTube has a skip ad button after 5 seconds, and I'm not convinced there's an
advert on every clip (at least on the YouTube app on phone - obviously no
adverts on the desktop)

------
mendelbot
Maybe kids should just stare at a screen less and go outside

------
montrose
Our kids only watch Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube. A couple days ago, my 8 year
old son asked me what Pepsi was. I consider that a good sign.

------
partycoder
TV is destined to disappear. Alvin Toffler predicted it: mass produced
solutions are not a thing in the post industrial age.

------
real-hacker
Tubi TV takes the opposite direction, free subscription + ads. Which model do
you think most people will prefer?

------
samnwa
But of course if you are a Hulu-only home you get 2X the ads and worst quality
than TV.

------
hoppelhase
Imagine how our surroundings would look like if there were absolutely no ads.

------
emodendroket
I mean, I guess that's an improvement, but that's a lot of TV.

------
AkshayD08
Children watch 2.6 hours if TV / day ? That sounds too much!

------
indus
I wish I could inject the following in the Netflix html through a proxy at
home..

>> Mental Health General's Statutory Warning <<<

>> Binge watching is injurious to kids health <<<

------
pteredactyl
Who's the marketing genius at Neflix to come up with this meme?

------
TheYcMaster
Or Kodi only

------
aviv
Every minute a kid watches a stupid Netflix kids show is a wasted minute they
can be stimulating their brain positively instead of numbing it with
manufactured industrialized content.

Having said that my kids do get a couple hours on the weekend and it's
actually fascinating to see what happens when they put the iPad away. It's
almost like they need a half hour or so to re-adjust to real life after all
the stupid content they just watched.

Then they go outside and do what kids do best - be kids.

~~~
drdrey
No offense but you sound like my aunt who would tell me all the time that
video games would make me stupid. But I wouldn't be working in tech today if
it wasn't for my passion for video games.

(note: I also limit screen time for my kids)

~~~
ggregoire
Watching TV and play video games have not the same effects on the brain.
Watching TV puts your brain in idle mode

~~~
drdrey
I don't disagree -- but why do we value reading books so much over watching
TV? Aren't you consuming stories passively in both cases? (let's say reading
Harry Potter vs watching Harry Potter)

~~~
jogjayr
Because skills gained from reading fiction transfer relatively easily into
more productive pursuits: studying, programming, writing. Not to mention that
reading isn't "consuming stories passively". You need to develop an
imagination and draw pictures in your head.

It's hard(er) to develop useful skills from TV watching; the only thing I can
think of is maybe learning about filmmaking, and that's only if you're
watching to learn rather than watching passively.

I read mostly fiction as a kid and owe most of my career to my reading and
writing skills.

------
Feniks
I've been almost entirely commercial/advertising free for years now.

Not gonna lie, it isolates you from mainstream society a bit. Whether that is
good or bad is debatable.

~~~
cmpb
I’ve had the same isolation experience after kicking Facebook 3ish years ago.
Also, it seems to have only gotten more isolating since. My wife effectively
has to operate as a proxy between most of our family/friends and me, which is
not a position she enjoys, and is not a position I intended on her being in.

------
jstewartmobile
I don't watch much TV, but my wife watches a lot of these shows. The product
placement is fairly blatant, and the storylines themselves seem very
materialistic.

What if this is not a replacement of advertisement as much as it is a more
thoroughly integrated form of it?

I mean, which would you rather be: The guy who pays for a blatant ad that is
segregated from the content, or the guy with a slick PR rep who gets your
product glowingly mentioned _inside_ the content?

------
moreorless
I am curious to see if kids in "Netflix Only" homes spend more time watching
shows because of binging. When I had Netflix, I found myself watching more
than I normally would.

------
tzakrajs
Too bad the kids couldn't be saved from Netflix.

------
partycoder
Time to double down on product placement.

~~~
nuclearchicken
Product placement is difficult in the shows I watch most: The Walking Dead,
Fear the Walking Dead, Vikings. Luxury items don't and didn't exist in the
aforementioned shows.

I watch TV sitting with a laptop. I mute during the commercials and look at
whatever for 2-3 minutes and return to watching. Done this for decades.

I will likely go straight Internet connection in 2018 once I figure out how to
get BBC and BBC America.

~~~
niftich
The Walking Dead had a longtime product placement deal with Hyundai. Although
it was much ridiculed, much of the point of product placement is to cause
positive associations to be made between the product and the setting.

Many people may not have thought of a Hyundai as a rough-and-tumble kind of
car, but seeing it in such a setting normalizes that association ever so
subtly, not unlike why repetition is an effective strategy to commit something
to memory.

~~~
nuclearchicken
Good point. My brother, a veteran, will not own a Kia because of the Killed in
Action acronym. I cannot blame him.

------
kleiba
I live in a 'Netflix free' home -- I watch as many commercials a year as a any
kid in a 'Netflix only' home. It's not clear to me why the article assumes
that not having Netflix means you're consuming commercials.

~~~
chris_wot
That makes no sense. Kids who watch Netflix get zero ads. Kids who watch
commercial television are bombarded with ads.

~~~
kleiba
That depends. I live in a country where there are public channels (state
funded) and private channels. Only the latter show ads.

~~~
chris_wot
That’s not what I call “commercial TV”. The Australian Broadcasting
Corporation has a corporate arm, but it’s not for Broadcasting.

