Advertisements on Sky Cable
Thursday
May 24, 2007
If you pay for something, should you still see advertisements?
This is one question that has been looming on my mind since the first time I ranted out about advertisements on Sky Cable a couple of years back.
When you pay for a premium Flickr account, do you get ads? No? When I bought myself a Flickr Pro account, the promise was for ads to disappear unless it was absolutely necessary to display advertisements. And Yahoo!/Flickr made good on their promise.
What about SkyCable? No.
Take Nickelodeon, AXN, Cartoon network, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel. All of these channels that feature ads for their own shows during breaks now also feature ads for Sky, Home Cable, and affiliated companies like Sky Internet.
I mean I pay PhP 800 plus (~$16 +) per month for a Sky Cable Gold subscription, and I expect nothing but quality ad-free programming. But what do I get? Advertisements.
It’s even worse these days. Not only do we get advertisements enticing us to upgrade to a higher subscription, but we also get local targeted advertisements inserted by the cable company! By targeted, I mean kid-related ads appearing on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, and the like.
I’m okay with organic adverts—meaning those that are aired by the channels and content providers themselves. It’s part of the programming. But when it’s obviously an insertion by the local cable company (like when the regular in-between promos by the channels are obviously interrupted in the middle), then it’s utter crap.
I called up Sky Cable customer service (at +632-631-0000) a while ago, inquiring about a new subscription, and I was told that Sky Cable does not display any advertisements on their cable network, whatsoever, regardless of the subscription package.
Wrong.
We watch Nickelodeon everyday, and we see those crappy ads inserted in between shows. At least Disney Channel doesn’t have those ads—perhaps Disney is strict with implementing a no-ad policy upon their licensees. So far, I’ve been seeing ads by McDonald’s, Nido, and Chuckie. I guess I should call for a boycott of these products if they keep on interrupting my TV enjoyment (yes, I’m very fond of kids’ shows, too!).
Sky Cable even has the gall to advertise about their cheap advertising rates, e.g., “Advertising on TV doesn’t have to be costly,” or something to that effect.
My point is that I paid for something, and I expect the service provider to have recouped their investments and costs from the subscription fees that I, and other subscribers, are paying them. If they would rather earn from selling ad airtime, then they might as well just offer their cable TV service for free to subscribers!
And don’t give me the magazine analogy. Yes, glossy mags are full of ads, but the argument is that the ads are part of what we pay for, particularly for fashion and niche-oriented magazines (like nice images of cars, bags, apparel, gadgets, and even people). And we can always flip through these ads if we’d rather avoid them. It’s not the same with TV programming.
When will Sky Cable stop airing ads?
Comments
Jane
May 24th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
I am SOOOOOO in agreement with you! Isn’t that exactly what cable is all about—free from ads???
You feel like they’re pulling your leg when they claim they don’t insert ads when they actually do. Someone should take a video of their ads on TV and post these on YouTube or something like that to prove otherwise. Hah!
Noelle De Guzman
May 24th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
I’ve had this issue with SkyCable ever since my family and I had to switch back to Sky when we moved to our new place. (We used to be Paranaque Cable subscribers.) We pay more, get less channels due to the new channel tiering scheme, and still we see ads!
ba
May 24th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Sometimes they show these ads during the climax of the show! Argh
jhay
May 25th, 2007 at 6:40 am
This is the first time I heard of such things on a cable network. If it as has ads, it’s not cable me thinks.
Jeric
May 25th, 2007 at 11:52 am
I hate it
They insert their own ads on these “CABLE CHANNELS” which isn’t right!
Lorie
May 27th, 2007 at 2:28 am
change providers. hee.
vance
May 27th, 2007 at 3:49 am
hmm maybe digibox will help hehe…
Arthur
May 28th, 2007 at 10:52 am
“If you pay for something, should you still see advertisements?”
-> It depends, I guess. I checked their website (http://www.skycable.com/index-gold.html) – aside from channel availability, it doesn’t say anything about ads. As for the ads on the web, I think it’s a bit different from boobtube adverts.
We had SkyCable only once. Then came Paranaque Cable. At Php450.00/month plus WoWow (sans Cinemax, though), it can’t be beat.
J. Angelo Racoma
May 28th, 2007 at 11:15 am
I guess it does depend. It’s not illegal to advertise on paid service, but I think it’s bad business practice. I used to see ads on the MRT trains all the time (inside, and even out). But I don’t mind because it’s mostly unobtrusive, and does not ruin the user experience.
But on TV, you cannot minimize the ads. And you cannot be ad blind, like you can with web ads (like adsense). All you can do is change the channel. It’s all right with free TV, but for me not okay with paid/subscription TV.
I wish we had a PVR.
Tiffany
May 28th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
Watch DVDs instead! Lol.
vance
May 28th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
Digibox? hehe… Kailan kaya magkakaroon ng TiVo sa pinas where you can remove the commercials and such…
Mabuti pa sa Hing Kong eh, High Def na ang cable nila.
ba
May 29th, 2007 at 1:38 am
I think sineseryoso na nila ang pag-aadvertise sa cable. I saw an ad (rudely insterted in the middle of my cartoon’s commercial, thus cutting through the cartoon) saying, “advertise on Sky Cable!” or something like that.
Adam Mordo
May 29th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
This has been pissing me off quite a lot too. I hate it when I see a proper ad, such as on Discovery, for a program which catches my interest. I of course would want to take down when It’ll be shown and what time. Then from out of nowhere, Sky Cable ad cuts in and I am unable to get any program information, not even a title so I can’t even look it up. It’s freaking inconsiderate.
Robin Lim
May 29th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
If they did not have the adds, they would probably charge more.
Jason
June 1st, 2007 at 1:46 am
It’s illegal. They can get sued by the channel.
Jason2
June 1st, 2007 at 6:47 am
I share your sentiments but what can we do. Even our government cannot do anything about it and I think this is SkyCable’s way of raising funds for their debt, as well as their programming and operating expenses. Channel carriage fees are really expensive and SkyCable was able to lower down their subscription fees. I think the Philippines has the cheapest cable tv subscription in Asia. For the Digibox, it wont help but I want to check it out. _
David
June 2nd, 2007 at 11:24 am
Probably when a “considerable” number of SkyCable customers vote with their wallets and make their sentiments collectively known.
R.T. Salabit
July 3rd, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Its now more than a month sky cable man attended our system & installed new device that stop (kuno)illegal connection here in caloocan but to our dismay it ruin the reception of most of the TV channels we are viewing due to seems weak fading signals,We just advised by phone the sky cable office here in caloocan , they said that to be patience for a little time more & they are rectifiying the system, but by gosh it is almost a month & the reception is still a pest. Imalso afraid that my new LCD TV will suffer defects due to poor fading signal. Can you do something or disconnect your system cause it just causing us bad day to relax
Jason
September 3rd, 2007 at 7:02 am
Solar Entertainment Channels will be removed on SkyCable
Guys, I just found out all Solar Entertainment Channels will be removed on SkyCable effective January 1, 2008. These channels are Basketball TV, Solar Sports, JackTV, ETC, 2nd Avenue and Crime/Suspense. This is for all SkyCable packages, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Let’s make a complain para di ituloy. Premium ang Basketball TV sa Destiny Cable at sobrang mahal.
Roni B.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Like Jason, I am very dissapointed that SkyCable will be deleting Solar Entertainment channels. Those happen to be my favorites
I went to SkyCable’s website to email them a complaint but there was nowhere in their website where you can put in a comment. I think they “locked” their Contact Us portion or something coz it wouldn’t come up. So, maybe, I’ll just call them to air my complaint. I will certainly put up a fight for my favorite programs….I hope they’ll listen, though…
Lloyd
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:01 am
What’s up with Sky Cable? I mean, there are only a handful of channels that are worth watching, and now they are about to remove several of them
That is CRAP
By the time that the Solar channels are removed, it is also the time when the NBA is at full swing coming into the All Star game in February (BTV), the WWE is prepping up for the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania (Jack TV), and the upcoming Superbowl of the NFL and to some extent even the March Madness of the US NCAA (Solar Sports). What the heck is wrong? If anybody would like to start a petition, count me in. I’m with you guys all the way.
billy lucky chan (chinese ako, dima mahil kami sa suerte kaya lucky)
October 1st, 2007 at 10:32 am
magkano ba pa advertise sa sky cable.. need immediate respond,, per second po ang kailangang pricing
Antimonopoly
October 2nd, 2007 at 7:31 pm
tawag kayo sa destiny ibaba na nila ang BTV sa normal subscription. =)
isa lang solusyon dyan lipat na destiny!
Nell
November 11th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
They have VERY POOR service. Just imagine charging cable subscription even when they dont have signal? This happened several times… they always say that they will give rebates for that but never did.
For the past month, they encrypted the signal in our are (camanava), it follows that they should provide the digibox ahead of time to avoid downtime. Guess what… up to this date no digibox was deployed. I really can’t understand how the hell can they live and accepting payment and charge their subscribers without any sense of good service in return? I also wonder from where is the problem of efficiency coming from?
ineddyKer
December 18th, 2007 at 4:27 am
I’d prefer reading in my native language, because my knowledge of your languange is no so well. But it was interesting! Look for some my links:
the PRO
January 1st, 2008 at 4:37 am
this happened since Sky became involved with abs-cbn network. Abs-Cbn began to have shares with sky cable. And what to they get with this? ads-ads-ads.
skycable sucks
January 4th, 2008 at 8:42 am
the nerve of their stupid ads interrupting my favorite shows!..damn you skycable!!..and bring back solar entertainment channels!! gyah, if only i can find a decent cable provider here with cheaper fees and more channels..
Nosignalviewer
May 6th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Just recently, digital box was installed in our house then after a week we already experienced problem regarding the signal. It is always having “E48 – No signal” error message. And now, 3 days na kaming walang cable due to this problem. I think skycable doesn’t reach the sky kaya ala kaming signal. hehe. pangit talaga, kung di lan uunti ang selection ng cable providers ngaun, walang malipatan eh…
poor service talaga sa sky. hmf!
brunee
June 24th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
speaking of digibox ng skycable additional income na-earned ng meralco.kc magaaksaya ka naman ng kuryente kaya pabor sa meralco. malamang maglagay na rin ng system loss sa skycable at judy ann ulet ang endorser.pwede rin si alfie mag-endorse mahilig sa cable yun.cable ng mga papa!
Mel M.
August 8th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
They make me so pissed for four f ***ing years I WAITED TO SEE THE BEIJING OLYMPICS LIVE
! AND THEY SHOW FREAKING COMMERICALS ESPECIALLY THEIR SOLAR SPORTS
! THEY ARE SO PISSING ME OFF INFACT I DONT CARE HOW LONG IT TAKES BUT IM GONNA KEP CONTACTING THEM THROUGH PHONE AND COMPLAIN ABOUT HOW THEY AND THERE PARTNERSHIP WITH SOLAR SPORTS
! I HATE THEM INFACT IM GONNA MENTION THAT NO ONE LIKES TO SEE THERE STUPID COMMERICIALS AND WANT TO SEE THE FULL COVERAGE OF THE OLYMPICS
! I SO HAT SOLAR SORTS AND DREAM RIGHT NOW AND IM TYPING THIS WHILE A SO CALLED “OLYMPIC COMMERCIALS” ARE GOING ON.
Lester Muzon
May 31st, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Skycable really sucks! I mostly watch the channels from 20 thru to 30 which include Nat’l Geographic, Discovery, Star Sports, AXN, MAXXX, Star Movies, Fox Crime, HBO and Cinemax.
Apart from the three movie channels 27, 29 and 30, where there are no breaks at all during the movies, all the other channels are showing ads or info-mercials nearly every 6 or 7 minutes throughout the programs. Try switching channels when a commercial break comes on and you find nearly all the other channels are on a break also. These breaks last at least three and a half minutes and consist of the same ads and info-mercials over and over again to the point where you just feel like throwing something at the screen. It’s so frustrating!
Isn’t there a law on how often or how much time a broadcasting studio is allowed to show these program breaks?
Where do you complain?
How can we put a stop to this abuse of our viewing pleasure?
Jojo
June 16th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
I had my sky cable disconnected last march 2009, due to billing issues, they call me up to tell me to pay my bills, but the problem is I’m not recieving any billing statements. I pay the bills when they arrive and yet just today I was called up by their law office to pay up. but the problem is how can I pay if i dont have a billing statement? Is there any other avenue where we can complain and be taken seriously? The sky cable call center is just lousy
Migs
November 28th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
I have called SkyCable at the first week of November for a New Connection. The agent immediately took my information and says he will schedule me for a connection the next day. I told him to schedule me on saturday instead.
Saturday I was told to wait till 6pm.
Saturday night, no crew members, and they told me they might’ve went overtime and that I should wait till 9:00 pm. I waited and no crews still.
I told them to schedule me the next day.
Sunday, no crew came to my house again. They told me madami silang ginagawa and di nila ako mapupuntahan. So I rescheduled for next week Saturday.
2nd week saturday, I again called and they told me the crew can’t come because they were busy attending to other clients far from my location. I told them last week pa ako di nakakabitan. And they told me I was in the middle of their list and mukhang di kakayanin.
I rescheduled again for tomorrow. Sunday.
Darn, I’m the client, I should be the one setting schedules. It’s like begging to be serviced! Not to mention the cellphone load you waste to call those incompetent support staff who’ll just give you false promises.
I think tomorrow would be the last. I’m considering of pulling the plug from Sky and switching to Global Destiny which is a lot cheaper and no DigiBox whatsoever.
Does the Sky Cable high ups just turn a blind eye on these things?