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Hulu, AT&T To Test 'Pause Ads' In 2019, Automatically Playing Commercials When You Hit Pause (macrumors.com) 188

Posted by BeauHD from the ready-or-not-here-they-come dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from MacRumors: Streaming TV services offered by companies like Hulu and AT&T are testing the waters for a new type of advertising called "pause ads." The idea behind pause ads is that instead of facing forced commercial breaks at specified interludes, users would be more accepting of ads that play when they choose to pause a show for a bit while they do something else. Hulu says it plans to launch pause ads in 2019, but not much else was given in the way of details regarding which of its numerous streaming plans will include the new type of commercial. The plan likely to see pause ads is Hulu With Limited Commercials, which interjects a few ads throughout a show's runtime, similar to live TV, but again this hasn't been confirmed.

AT&T cited similar interest in pause ads, stating that it also plans to launch technology in 2019 that plays a video when a user pauses a TV show. For both companies, it's unclear exactly how long these ads will run for, and if you'll be able to immediately cancel them out by simply hitting the play button and resuming your TV show. According to Hulu vice president and head of advertising platforms Jeremy Helfand, pause ads will not be home to longform advertisements, but will instead focus on commercials where advertisers "have seconds" to deliver a message effectively. Over the next three years, Hulu expects "more than half" of its advertising revenue to come from these so-called non-disruptive experiences.
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Hulu, AT&T To Test 'Pause Ads' In 2019, Automatically Playing Commercials When You Hit Pause More

Hulu, AT&T To Test 'Pause Ads' In 2019, Automatically Playing Commercials When You Hit Pause

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  • Can confirm (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Dunbal ( 464142 ) * on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @06:21PM (#57750136)

    users would be more accepting of ads that play when they choose to pause a show for a bit while they do something else.

    And how much do they expect advertisers to pay for ads that people are guaranteed not be watching - because they're doing something else?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      its and introduction so they can sell unpause ads.. where your forced to watch the ad to unpause

    • And how much do they expect advertisers to pay for ads that people are guaranteed not be watching

      Isn't that pretty much the case today? Seems like I already get a lot of ads I am not looking at already. :-)

    • Seems great until... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @06:34PM (#57750208)

      You realize half the time you are pausing is for a phone call, or to listen to someone interrupting your show, and all of a sudden now you're turning down/off the volume instead because pausing it no longer helps you hear whoever is interrupting you.

      This seems like a half baked idea from people who don't understand their target demographic, or the technical limitations of their cocaine fueled bad ideas.

      • Re:Seems great until... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @06:48PM (#57750270)

        This seems like a half baked idea from people who don't understand their target demographic.

        It's almost 2019. Anyone still seeing or watching ads at this point is a fool, and they know this, so they are going to make up the losses by squeezing those fools even harder.

        They understand the target demographic just fine.

      • Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)

        by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @07:51PM (#57750510)
        Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by mathew7 ( 863867 )

          All these stupid marketing-manager people always neglect bad connections. I also had to pause (youtube in my case) a lot to allow 10-20s of buffering so I would not have stuttering every 2s. The day Netflix does something like this is the day I cancel my account (which I barely use now).

          • I see ads as "Products/Companies NOT to buy from or do business with".

            It's the internet age, I have friends and family I can get "word of mouth" about products and services, I don't want or need ads....

            I'll research something I'm interested in, try to push it on me and you can eff off...

        • That's great for you, but I watch videos with other people sometimes...

      • Agreed. My very first thought was that ads while paused was a creative alternative to other revenue sources. (Unfortunately, film crews don't work for free - not the crews who produce good shows).

        As you said the audio thing is the catch. If I hit pause, quite often I want the thing to be quiet because I'm answering a call or whatever. This would be a good time to put up a still photo ad, like you'd have in a magazine or on a billboard.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by rtb61 ( 674572 )

        There is a problem in ad space, too many ads, in a shrinking free content space, where people are paying instead to stream ad free. The problem is, the less exposure to loud visual ads, to more intolerable they become, the less part of the environment they are, the more well, arsehole comes screaming at you about shite. They will just have to suck it up, ads can be seen but should never be heard, they are just noise pollution no one is interested, want to 'NOT' sell me a product, force an ad on me, I will r

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        I was rather hoping that the pause button would also mute the sound and turn the screen off automatically. Saves me a few button presses.

    • Advertisers get that. But it is not like you were watching with rapt attention when the pre-programmed ads interrupted the show. You were mostly doing other things, probably even had some "stuff to do" at hand, if you weren't hitting the head, or in the kitchen for something.

      They knew that also, and planned for the reduced exposure. After all, often only one person is pausing and other viewers remain. Often you can hear the ad, and see part of it as you enter and leave. Advertising depends on repeat viewing

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        If it leads to more viewers on Hulu

        Only on planet hookers&blow would someone think that advertisements INCREASE viewer numbers.

    • And how much do they expect advertisers to pay for ads that people are guaranteed not be watching - because they're doing something else?

      How are they getting advertisers to pay for ads today? After Hulu switched from free-with-ads to paid-with-ads, I got the impression they managed to scare off most of their user base (they certainly lost me, and I had been with them since the closed beta). With Fox selling most of its assets to Disney and ABC being Disney's as well, it's likely that Hulu will lose most of the content from two of its three largest content providers (leaving just NBC) as soon as those licensing agreements are up.

      This is proba

    • Re: Can confirm (Score:5, Insightful)

      by nnull ( 1148259 ) on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @07:11PM (#57750380)

      And they also expect me to pay for this streaming service that wants to play ads when I pause. Absolutely brilliant! I'm sure that's bringing in tons of customers with this feature!

      I thought the whole point of paying for streaming service was to avoid ads?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by msauve ( 701917 )
        "I thought the whole point of paying for streaming service was to avoid ads?"

        No, the point is to pay for the content you're interested it, instead of having to buy some large bundle of crap costing more which includes that content.

        Playing ads during pause seems an excellent compromise, to a point. The only downsides I can see are increased bandwidth consumption (minor), and a problem if you're pausing to see if Han shot first. (Mute and pause if you don't want to hear the ads)

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward

          "I thought the whole point of paying for streaming service was to avoid ads?"

          No, the point is to pay for the content you're interested it, instead of having to buy some large bundle of crap costing more which includes that content.

          But ads are the specific content in which I'm not interested.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Rolgar ( 556636 )

            The Hulu customers who would see these ads are paying $8 to see the content with ads instead of paying $12 to never see an ad. I just signed up for the $12 plan, and my only complaint is CBS isn't putting their current content on there, but I'm not willing to pay CBS's fee which is almost the same as the cost of HBO or Showtime.

            • People wanted "al a carte" and they're discovering its just as expensive and even more annoying....

              • People wanted "al a carte" and they're discovering its just as expensive and even more annoying....

                Cutting the cord was a lot cheaper 5 to 10 years ago than it is now. Now everyone is doing it businesses are all wanting their piece of the pie back. When everything was on Netflix it was a better time as a cord cutter.

        • "I thought the whole point of paying for streaming service was to avoid ads?"

          No, the point is to pay for the content you're interested it, instead of having to buy some large bundle of crap costing more which includes that content.

          It's both. To avoid ads AND get content I want. I have Netflix, Prime, and Hulu- I've always thought three was excessive but I've given in to my wife and agreed to have all three. Hulu starts putting ads on pause and I'm dropping them. When I pause it's because my attention is needed elsewhere. Sure, I could hit mute, but that would be annoying... this would be enough for me to drop Hulu altogether and I'm pretty sure the wife would agree.

    • And how much do they expect advertisers to pay for ads that people are guaranteed not be watching - because they're doing something else?

      Well in the old days of pre-VCR television, it was pretty well known that some percentage of viewers would be visiting the bathroom during a commercial break. So perhaps they've already looked at this and can put numbers on it.

    • A quick add when you're distracted would essentially be subliminal advertising. It could then transition into elevator music style adds, just something in the background you don't really notice.
    • And are they going to do anything to subscription cost to reflect this new "revenue"? Somehow I doubt it.

    • users would be more accepting of ads that play when they choose to pause a show for a bit while they do something else.

      And how much do they expect advertisers to pay for ads that people are guaranteed not be watching - because they're doing something else?

      It would be less palatable to me. If I pause the TV It's to talk to someone on the phone, or someone in the room or do something else that requires my attention. I don't want distracting ads yelling "wasssssuuuuuuuuppppppp!" at me as I'm trying to help my child with a maths problem that she just came to me with.

  • Why hit puase... TURN IT OFF (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @06:26PM (#57750156)

    They are just wanting to waste your bandwidth and charge you MORE.

    IDIOTS with pointy hats!

  • Not watching those shows (Score:5, Insightful)

    by bobbutts ( 927504 ) <bobbutts@gmail.com> on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @06:28PM (#57750170)
    This is really easy, if there are forced ads I will attempt to block or skip them. If that's not possible I will skip the content. I've been spoiled by DVR, downloads, ad-free streaming, and other methods of viewing shows without ads. I'm not going back to watching ads ever.

    • Re:Not watching those shows (Score:5, Insightful)

      by markdavis ( 642305 ) on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @08:40PM (#57750716)

      >"I'm not going back to watching ads ever."

      +100

      They need to realize this and QUICKLY. I am fine with manually zooming through ads, sometimes even stopping on one to see what it is. But I will NEVER submit to forced ads, nor "pause ads".

      And when I freeze/pause something it might be because:

      1) I need silence
      2) I need no visual distraction for a moment
      3) I want to examine something ON THE SCREEN
      4) I am leaving momentarily

      An "ad" there is totally unacceptable for the first three.... and those happen A LOT.

  • So I won't be able to freeze it if... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @06:30PM (#57750178)

    So I won't be able to freeze it if I want to take a look at a shot. Great! Can't wait.

  • Terribad Idea (Score:5, Insightful)

    by darkain ( 749283 ) on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @06:31PM (#57750184) Homepage

    The absolute #1 reason why I pause a show is because of a phone call or talk to a person in the room with me. The entire point is to take attention away from the TV, AND TO CANCEL ALL AUDIO INTERRUPTIONS. So now they want to take that control away? Meaning now instead of just a "pause", I must now "pause and then mute"? Yeah, it may seem like nitpickiness, but it is enough to deter me from even considering to use their services when there are alternative services that don't have these pitfalls.

    • Re:Terribad Idea (Score:5, Insightful)

      by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @06:34PM (#57750206)

      Meaning now instead of just a "pause", I must now "pause and then mute"?

      Don't be silly. You won't be able to mute these ads. /cynical-prediction

      • Meaning now instead of just a "pause", I must now "pause and then mute"?

        Don't be silly. You won't be able to mute these ads. /cynical-prediction

        I don't think Hulu can control the volume of your computer or TV.

        • I don't think Hulu can control the volume of your computer or TV.

          ... yet.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by aevan ( 903814 )
          Simply broadcast the show at less than maximum volume, so your set is cranked up...and then the commercial at maximum volume, so everyone in the house can hear it. Used to happen all the time, especially with late night commercials. They denied doing it, everyone knew they were doing it, and eventually laws [wikipedia.org] were passed on it.
      • This is just one more step closer to that docu-drama TV show from the '80s called "Max Headroom".

        The next step is either TV that doesn't turn off, or the volume only goes down to 1/3 of max.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mattyj ( 18900 )

      Not a nitpick at all. This is a fundamental breach of the standard operating procedure for anyone watching TV with a remote control over the last 40 years.

      Hard to tell before it happens whether it's just something people will accept and get used to, or if there will be so much backlash they'll stop doing it. It's named 'pause' for a reason.

      Imagine if you paused Apple Music and sound kept filling your earholes. There would be a revolt.

      • It's not that foreign a concept. If you have a smart TV or DVR, after you pause for maybe 5 minutes it goes into a screensaver slide-show. Well, replace 5 minutes with 0, and screensaver with ad-roll.

        This is a total non-starter for me, and will cause me to immediately "cut the cord", it will give me the push I need to make the final cut.

        I already am ad-free thanks to the DVR scheduling, I never watch anything in real time anymore. Between that and various streaming sources as well as a private Plex serve

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by vanyel ( 28049 )

      Another reason for pausing is to examine a freeze frame (e.g. stopping to read the text messages people get on phones in shows), not to mention that ads are the reason I haven't watched live tv since DVRs came out, and even before that I muted them. So I suppose this wouldn't affect me as I wouldn't be signed up for a service that had ads in the first place.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • I came to make the same point. Either the phone rings or kid needs something. Non-stop noise is our future?

      It's like pulling out my smart-phone in order to turn the lights on/off. One has to [enter passcode, swipe swipe, tap app, wait for login prompt, scroll for device, tap, turn on/off "Yes/No?" ]. Christ I could flip the switch on the wall already.

      I get the marketing behind this. Show content all the time. All of those blank screens could be showing Ads!! show more ads!!!

  • We're going to need a new hashtag movement (Score:5, Funny)

    by Waffle Iron ( 339739 ) on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @06:34PM (#57750204)

    #PauseMeansPause

    • #PauseMeansPause

      But you were wearing clothes with the Under Armor logo on them- you're a consumer whore and were just asking for the ads.

  • I hit Pause or 'Freeze' to literally pause or freeze the video that's playing, not to have it stop playing what I was watching to start playing something else. Either I want quiet to talk to whoever just walked into the room or is shouting at me from another room, or maybe the phone is ringing and I need to take a call, or maybe I want to freeze frame what I'm looking at to admire the greatest rack I've seen in a long time. Sometimes I just want things to stop to focus on something else with no distraction,

    • Re:Obviously Hulu and AT&T do not respect view (Score:5, Insightful)

      by jwhyche ( 6192 ) on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @07:34PM (#57750456) Homepage

      You want to know something funny? I was actually looking for an excuse to cancel Hulu last night. I was flipping through hulu last night noting there was nothing on there I wanted to watch. The only reason I didn't cancel it was because I wanted to finish out Lastman Standing.

      Amazing how things can change in 24 hours.

      • Didn't Fox buy Last Man Standing? (So, you can't be "finishing" it because more will be made.)

      • Re:Obviously Hulu and AT&T do not respect view (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Actually, I do RTFA ( 1058596 ) on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @07:56PM (#57750530)

        If you can afford it, please do the world a favor and keep your subscription for another couple of months, until the feature goes live. If you cancel now, you're part of the baseline cancellation numbers. If you cancel after this goes into effect, you're part of the "cancelled after X" cohort. If that cohort is big enough, compared to the baseline, they'll walk it back.

        So, cancelling now makes this feature look more popular to statistics than if you never cancelled.

        We know this works because Hulu tried making iDevices not output video over HDMI. They saw higher cancellation raters among people who "upgraded" to that client. It was so bad, they rolled back that "feature", and HDMI output works again.

  • Non-Disruptive? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by DewDude ( 537374 ) on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @06:38PM (#57750226) Homepage
    Any kind of advertising is basically a rape of the eyes and ears. There *is* no non-disruptive advertising.

    • Re:Non-Disruptive? (Score:4, Informative)

      by Cyrano de Maniac ( 60961 ) on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @07:05PM (#57750354)

      I dunno. I sure as heck wanted to buy a Cadillac CTS after seeing Matrix Reloaded. Cadillac certainly payed for product placement (i.e. advertising), and the car was so cool looking that it fit the movie perfectly.

      Never mind I was in no financial position to buy one, but man, if I had been 10-15 years further into my career...

    • There *is* no non-disruptive advertising.

      Sure there is.I was on a website, reading an article about the benefits of using tool type X vs tool type Y for a project.. There was a link on that page to their "recommendations." Were their recommendations sponsors? Yes. However this site made it clear that they rejected brands as sponsors if they thought they were too expensive/poor quality. So, I chose one brand over another, cause they all seemed equally priced and reviews seemed about equal too.

    • That's a retarded thing to say; comparing advertising to rape.

      Bbuutt, that said this plan is fucking unacceptable. We pay for Hulu subscriptions specially to get away from advertising. It's bad enough that we're stuck with some level of advertising on programing that demands it be included. But now they want to double dip and try to squeeze us for even more advertising time.

  • AT&T & Hulu announce pro-piracy stance (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    One of the reasons that proprietary players are so unacceptable, is because they might do user-hostile stuff like this. If your service requires a proprietary player, then all the people who give a fuck about being abused, are already pirating all your shows and watching them completely ad-free, on a standard player.

    But not many people give a fuck about being abused. Most people are fine with it ..... somewhat.

    I think this ads-during-pause idea might help people reevaluate their preference for abuse. And

  • Hasn't MX Player been doing this for several years? The version I used last certainly did. Or is this "new" because a streaming service is doing it?
  • I knew it. God invented the MUTE button for a reason. Pause then MUTE, no need to hear some ad for something I can't afford anyway yammering away in the background.
    • I find remote controls cumbersome enough, I won't be using a service that doubles the fiddling I need to do with it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ffkom ( 3519199 )
      God wasn't involved, the "mute" button was a "muteation" that came into existence when the "volume down" and the "off" button had inter-racial sex, and the environment provided a habitat where the "mute" button could survive as the fittest.

      You wouldn't want to argue for "intelligent design", right?

  • I'm not going to be very accepting of this (Score:3)

    by aklinux ( 1318095 ) on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @06:54PM (#57750304) Homepage
    Bandwidth is expensive where I live. Nowf I have to pay to see the ads they're wanting to shove down my throat?

  • phone call (Score:3)

    by fluffernutter ( 1411889 ) on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @07:03PM (#57750346)
    Uh, when I hit pause it's because I'm answering the phone or something and I need quiet. So now I must hit pause AND mute? This would frustrate me to no end. It's funny how every 'development' with regards to playing video just pushes people further into piracy.
  • to ensure I blacklist your site.
  • I hit pause because I don't want to see your ad. Not because I want to see a different ad, I don't want to see any ads.

    How much coke do you not only have to snort, but to offer up to your boss, to make anyone think this is A Good Idea (tm).
    • But Snotnose, you don't get to do that, not even if you pay a subscription fee, everyone knows that, silly!
      What sort of bad citizen are you, anyway, that you dare to want to deprive these poor, starving media companies of your money? Don't you know they'll cry if if they can't make their Porche and BMW payments? You don't want to make them cry, do you, you meanie!
      You should gleefully pay your subscription fee, then faithfully watch all the commercials, and be sure to take the Commercial Content Competency
  • I'll take pause ads over forced ads. I route my TV through a receiver so I can always mute it, and being able to to watch a show with with no ads is more appealing than forced ads. I am usually leaving the room when I pause anyway, so it really won't impact my viewing. Now, when they include a remote that listens to hear the ad I'll change my mind. Then when I pause to answer the phone to find out I have viruses on my computer and they need my CC number to fix it I am screwed...

    • You will only get both, not lose the other.

      • You will only get both, not lose the other.

        Per TFA:

        The idea behind pause ads is that instead of facing forced commercial breaks at specified interludes, users would be more accepting of ads that play when they choose to pause a show for a bit while they do something else.

        Of course, that's what they say now; and would not be surprised if you are right. Still, if it an option that gets rid of forced ads I'd prefer that to forced ads.

  • Ban all the actual content and just show ads 24/7 :|

  • Because this is how you get a bullet through the screen.

    It's like they don't want people watching their content.

  • Once again I see I made a great decision so many years ago when I bought my first TiVo, a Series 2, and later on, dumping cable and getting an antenna. I can download anything else I want to watch, or wait for it on Redbox. Turn on TiVo's hidden 30 second skip, and I rarely see any commercials of any kind, and what I do see doesn't make it into my consciousness anyway.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • keep fucking your revenue stream (Score:3)

    by TheGratefulNet ( 143330 ) on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @09:27PM (#57750868)

    keep it up, guys.

    it just shows me, continually, that the pirate bay is the only way I'm going to consume media, from now on.

    the so-called proper sources want to annoy you, to NO END. literally, no end; the war on your sanity has no end. marketing and sales people have no souls.

    and so, I've given up even trying to 'play by the rules'.

    you'll get no money from me. enjoy your advertising-filled world. I want no part of it and I'll use all the tech I can to filter your bullshit from my view.

  • I don't like ads period.

  • Hulu, AT&T test way to make pirated TV shows more popular.
  • Wasn't MX Player doing this 5-6+ years ago already...?

  • ...generally involves me reading something, so I want to concentrate on reading it hence why I paused, or me leaving the room for something.
    In the first instance, I don't want anything playing. I hit "PAUSE" in order to, well, PAUSE what's playing. Not to invite something else to play that will continue to distract me from concentrating on what I want to concentrate on.
    In the second instance, well it doesn't matter as the first instance takes precedence for me.

    Basically, don't do it, guys. It's a stupid

  • Like getting your sh-t together and making sure things you own work with things you own. I still can't login to any Turner channels with my DirecTV Now account, which is ABSURD. Hell, you have two separate, competing IPTV services!

    But instead of trying to coordinate your systems and departments, making sure your left and right hands are working together, you're looking at ways to show people more ads? My patience is not infinite, and I will find a better TV provider if you don't get your ass in gear.

  • I frequently pause to hear something someone has to say. If I had this feature, I would then have to pause _and_ mute. No thanks. Just another innovation in making advertising more and more odious.

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