[lordindy]

Don't laugh..

I searched various sites (Youtube, etc), and I can't find a good one to scrape for the latest TV commercials. Now that I've ditched my cable provider, I'm out of touch with the latest commercials. Some can be funny. Really sucks when friends talk about "hey, you know that Nissan commercial blah blah blah"...and I'm clueless.

I was thinking "wouldn't it be cool to have a plugin/script that streamed commercials when you paused video playback in XBMC".

Don't laugh. Really.....don't.

[purewitz]

I can't speak for everyone, but I wouldn't want something like this. I gave up on cable and broadcast because of the commercials. I hated my shows or movies being interrupted by commercials. I'd rather just go to a companies website to learn about what new products they have. As I said can't speak for everyone, but I've rather be clueless when it comes to TV and Radio commercials. I also gave up on Radio as well. I am in control of my media now. I watch what I want, when I want to. Same goes to listening to music.

[lordindy]

Yes, I understand. But as you said, "watch what I want, when I want". Same goes for commercials. The idea is to have the choice. I figure, if I'm pausing a movie or tv show, why not have the option of having some commercials play (or not) while I'm paused.
Anyways, I can tell by the number of replies that if I want something like this, I'll have to try myself hehehe.
Cheers,

[slashr]

I like the idea , specially since i like american commercials and they're all stripped here even on nba and nfl etc broadcasts

[lordindy]

I think I have a way to do this.

http://www.advertolog.com/
This will be my first time trying to make a python script.
I'll scrape their "countries", "business sectors", "awards" and "years" sections (those could be options within the plugin).

Then, I'll parse out the URLS for the vids, randomize it, and play them.
Example:
http://www.advertolog.com/countries/mark...year-2011/
(north america, 2011)
This is the direct link to flash video for subscribers (once the link format is understood, a direct link to the video bypasses the "sign up" nonsense)
http://files.coloribus.com/files/adsarch...-32579.mp4

I'll try and make the plugin/script work one of two ways (options that can be enabled)
1. Play random streams when video is paused (and resume video when commercials are stopped)
2. Activate manually from script, like Executor.

Maybe I can also get "info" for the commercials to pop in the OSD or something, as the site provides those details.

Then again, maybe I'm starting something I won't finish

[Shoesy]

What a crazy idea. I'm into it.

[Daavid]

Love this idea!!

[slashr]

Cool , looking forward to it lordindy

Count me in for testing if needed when you start working on it

Cheers

[KidVulcan]

Well I can appreciate your predicament, I think all of us "cord-cutters" have been in a similar situation and it can suck. Luckey there's plenty ells I can discuss with my friends and getting rid of 15min of ads per show was a HUGE reason why I started using xbmc in the first place

[lordindy]

But then, why make a plugin like PseudoTV, or Cinema Experience? Its about "wanting" it, not being "forced to swallow it".

Anyways..I have a basic scraper working. Now to actually put some meat in it.

Configuration Options Planned:
1. Default volume (make commercials quieter or LOUDER for that true TV AD effect... ...thanks snootched for the idea
2. Select the country, industries, and years to choose from
3. Only award winners option
4. Launch commercials when paused, or launch via hotkey (optional)
5. If Advertolog doesn't work out...possibly scrape names from elsewhere and use youtube to play them.
6. Maybe find metadata for commercials (agency, song, campaign)
7. Of course..the browser/scraper is there if you just want to browse the top commercials or view other countries commercials

[ComputerCarl]

I'd love to see this as well. I'd love to have a playlist of commericials that I could schedule between shows on PseudoTV. In between shows would be ok. Mid shopw would suck, as it does on OTA or Streaming TV stations.

[krish_2k4]

i must be in the minority but why would you want to watch commercials?

[Buff]

Bizarrely, cos I normally hate commercials, I like the idea of this, especially if you can define exactly what sort of commercials you want or from what year etc...

Like, I guess, most users of XBMC, I wanted to get away from having to watch the same ads every 20 minutes that the broadcaster is showing, but to have the ads come on when you pause or maybe a few just before the film, like Cinema Experience, could be interesting.

One of the things in the Cinema Experience plugin that I like is the adverts - I downloaded a few ads last year, mainly Samsung TV ads with sexy girls in or the cool Nike/Adidas football ads, the only problem is there aren't enough, so they get boring.

To be able to choose a few random ads, maybe from the same year/decade as the film you are watching would be pretty cool and nostalgic.

Hope this develops into something

[mwkurt]

i must be in the minority but why would you want to watch commercials?

You're not alone!

[bluenote]

I would use this [occasionally]
Great idea