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Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)

www.nytimes.com Essays & writing Essays & articles Culture & media Candidate

Resurfaced independently across 3 calendar years, with breakout response in 2 of them.

submissions
3
submitters
2
observed span
2018–2022
peak thread · 354 comments
288 pts
latest 20+ return · 2020-04-25
288 pts

Submission timeline

2007–2026

One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.

First comments on top threads

HN comment order

Im enjoying Hulu/Netflix/Prime Video while I can. My kid has grown up in a household without commercials and where you get points for who can hit “skip” the fastest when one does pop up. Commercials were always annoying but when you aren’t used to seeing them then it really hits home that your seeing the exact same commercial for floor wax sixteen times an hour and the exact same commercial for anti-AIDS drugs sixteen times per hour. You can forgive…

Q: Will X be invaded by ads? A: Almost definitely. Even some major automakers seem to assume that the car of the future will include ads.[0] Amazing that car companies could’ve survived all these decades without them! [0] https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/10/15947784/audi-25th-hour-a...

I thought this would be an interesting thing to review considering the trajectory of Netflix, which is now attempting to start an ad-supported tier. Of course, the ads will only ever stay on this tier and everyone else will never have to both pay for a full subscription and see ads.

ctoth·4-point thread·

The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.

Breakout years
2

100+ points or 50+ comments

Total points
444

reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking

Total comments
466

reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking

Every submission

DateTitle as submittedByPointsComments
2018-10-14Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)First breakoutctoth152111
2020-04-25Will cable TV be invaded by commercials? (1981)Best thread · Latest 20+ point returndgellow288354
2022-06-23Will Cable TV Be Invaded by Commercials? (1981)ctoth41