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Anonymous User
Not applicable

pre-show adverts -> cancellation

I used to think NowTV was a pretty good service, until they started putting outstandingly irritating adverts onto the start of more and more programs I wanted to watch. These are the adverts for other (######) programmes that you can't skip or fast-forward on the Roku box. (I don't know if it's just Roku - you don't get them when viewing from the web.)

 

The current adverts are particularly loud, offensive, and repetative (especially when looking through several episodes to find the one you want), but forced adverts are never acceptable, least of all on a paid service.

 

I swore at my TV for the last time today. I have cancelled my NowTV subscription on account of this. Is there anyone else here who feels strongly about this? (I know it's not just me, but maybe people on this forum are more tolerant of NowTV's dirty tricks.) Is there some additional way of expressing our dislike of this feature to NowTV? If they removed the adverts, I'd gladly sign up again, so I'd be especially glad to hear about any plans to do that.

 

Thanks,

Tim.

44 REPLIES 44
Anonymous User
Not applicable

I'm with Tim on this one, even if there was a skip button it's still not a good solution. Configurable account switch is the way to go. All I want is to be able to go to an episode and watch it start to finish without any interruptions or extra button presses. You wouldn't have thought it would be that difficult, Netflix, Amazon, iPlayer all manage it...

Anonymous User
Not applicable

This was the last straw for me and ive now cancelled my supscription. Ive put up with the shody modified boxes and the terrible 'unfinshed' software updates, the perminat remote control bug only present in the NowTV app and all the other bugs that are know about but never fixed (many which i have reported and been thobbed off and ignored). The recent 'continue watching' that made our boxes non-family/multi-user friendly was breaking point but this pushed me past the point.

 

Instead of adding stupid trailers to programmes to advertise what we already have (or had) why not employ a tech team that can actually produce a bug free and reliable software that is user friendly. Listen to the hundreds of suggestions on the forum by your customers and stop trying to make bad copies of the ideas other providers have and are doing.

 

For info the last 7 programmes out of 11 had a trailer - no skip button. the remote is locked during the trailers except the back button which if pressed exits the trialer and programme but you still cant skip it.. each time you restart the programme the trailer (not always the same one either) will play again. On two occasions the box crashed after the trailer played while it was switching over to load the programme, then when finally navigaed all the way back through the menu to the progamme again - guess what another trailer!

 

ukbobboy
Legend

Dear Forum Members

 

You know, wasn't this "leveraging information and allowing Partners to send it to their customers" a facility that Roku were developing for the new Combo Box?

 

I believe this tid-bit of info was mentioned in an almost indecipherable press release issued sometime last year (as far as I can remember) by Roku.

 

 

UK (skeptical) Bob

 

 


@ukbobboy wrote:

Dear Forum Members

 

You know, wasn't this "leveraging information and allowing Partners to send it to their customers" a facility that Roku were developing for the new Combo Box?

 

I believe this tid-bit of info was mentioned in an almost indecipherable press release issued sometime last year (as far as I can remember) by Roku.

 

 

UK (skeptical) Bob

 

 


It's not just happening on the new Combo box though 😞

ukbobboy
Legend

@dr_necessitor

 

Hi DR

 

You said, "It's not just happening on the new Combo box though".  Yes, I got that impression from the other posts in this thread.

 

You know, it's not surprising that this "leveraging facility" has migrated to other Roku based systems, it is a money making facility specially developed for Roku's partners to deliver advertisements directly to their customers.

 

                                         

 

 

UK Bob

@ukbobboy There are no such pre-show adverts delivered when watching content from Netflix on a Roku or on a YouView PVR. Likewise when watching content from Amazon Video on a Roku. So most likely it's specifically a partnership between Roku & NOW TV to deliver "this joyful privilege" to NOW TV customers 😉

ukbobboy
Legend

@dr_necessitor

 

Hi again DR

 

I agree with everything you've said, except for the following,"So most likely it's specifically a partnership between Roku & NOW TV", I think you've missed out on the other partnerships Roku has with streaming TV companies in other countries from around the world, such as Germany Italy, TV companies across the US and others like India and Brazil.

 

Roku is busy setting up and creating partnerships around the world, i.e. wherever they can use their technology to increase market share.

 

 

UK Bob

 

PS. Roku can get into market sectors and geographical area that traditional and satellite TV systems cannot reach and I believe that Roku is definitely not resting on it's laurels.

 

 

UK Bob

@ukbobboy

 

My comments are of course intended to be specific to the current discussion regarding this particular issue as it affects NOW TV. But thanks for raising awareness of the other partnerships Roku has with streaming TV companies in other countries from around the world, however I'm not particularly concerned about those right now!

DarylM
Legend 5
Legend 5

@ukbobboy wrote:

 

You know, wasn't this "leveraging information and allowing Partners to send it to their customers" a facility that Roku were developing for the new Combo Box?

  


 

I believe that refers to content distributors being able to display content directly on the front page of Roku-style devices.  e.g. The BBC can put a link to The Great British Bake Off on the front page of the Now TV box, so people can go directly to it without having to navigate through the iPlayer first.

 

Do the trailers only appear on Now TV and Roku boxes?  Or do they appear on other devices as well?



If this has solved your issue please mark this as an accepted solution.

Those little green stars by my name mean that I'm a Community Contributor - not Now TV staff. I just try to help out if I can.


@DarylM wrote:

Do the trailers only appear on Now TV and Roku boxes?  Or do they appear on other devices as well?


 

@DarylM Only got one non-Roku/non-NOW TV device on the account here (which is mostly used for account monitoring purposes, rarely used for watching) and haven't (yet) had a chance to look and see if this happens on there (but I wouldn't be surprised to find that it does!)