Forced to Watch Commercials on a DVR

Over the years, television commercials have become much longer, but this is not the only aggravating issue when trying to watch TV these days. Count the number of commercial ads during one TV program, and you are likely to count dozens. Some are particularly annoying, and in any case no one should be forced to watch anything midway through programs, especially when paying extra for a digital video recorder.

Forced Commercials Can be Avoided

Those watching on-demand shows on a DVR once had the luxury of always being able to fast forward through commercials they did not want to hear or see, but now the networks have found a way to stop the practice of skipping through some or all of the commercials. Advertisers love this new feature. Some networks are now disallowing fast forwarding while watching on-demand programming. A caption announcing this fact is displayed at the beginning of affected shows. People are forced to watch it all, leave the room, change the channel or turn their heads - even though they are paying extra for a DVR.

When forced to watch on-demand commercials on a DVR, use these easy ways to ignore them. Cable and satellite providers along with the networks are becoming more clever, but they cannot really force anyone to watch the commercials.

Sorry, advertisers. People will never be forced to listen to anything you are pushing. As long as television remotes are available, no one can be forced to turn up the volume.

Use the Mute Button while Viewing Forced Commercials

Viewers might be forced to watch or at least air on-demand commercials in their homes, but no one is forced to listen. When it is not possible to fast forward the DVR when watching on-demand shows, use the mute button instead. The mute button still works, and it will end the aggravation when the fast forward option is disabled. The commercials become ineffective when no one can hear them, and this is the best way to end the annoyance when forced to air commercials on an in-home DVR.

Watch the Commercials with the Sound Off

Try watching all commercials with the sound off, even when able to fast forward using a DVR. They become far more entertaining when muted. In any case, it will still be necessary to watch the TV when the DVR cannot fast forward to avoid missing parts of shows. This is still not as bad as being forced to hear embarrassing commercials pushing prescription drugs for erectile dysfunction or a mind-numbing Juice Newton song belted from a vehicle as the miserable kid inside is consoled by a friend on the features of the latest and greatest Toyota. Marketing really screwed up with that one. Human actions and facial expressions are more comical than ever, and best of all, they will not convince anyone in the home that they need any of the things being pushed by advertisers. Give it a try. Sometimes TV really is better with the sound off.