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Many consumers spend most of their TV time watching DVR recordings and movies, along with shows from Netflix and other streaming services. The commercials on live TV are a turn-off for many viewers, and the inability to fast-forward through commercials is a downside to video on demand, they told us. And those who watch lots of content on DVDs and Blu-ray discs tend to take them out of the library for free.
That's what we found from a recent question we posted on the Consumer Reports Facebook page. It's just a barometer of your viewing habits, not an official survey, but it offers some food for thought.
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DVRs are far and away the favorite way to watch TV, because they let viewers watch the programs they like at their convenience—and without ads. "The number of commercials in shows anymore is insane, especially on some of the cable channels," one Facebooker wrote. A few respondents indicated that they're shying away from network video on demand for which the fast-forward function is disabled—they just don't want to watch commercials.
A number of respondents bemoaned the lack of decent programming, saying they steered clear of "anything with a laugh track" and "so-called reality shows that are so contrived as to be laughable." Several of those who do watch live TV get it free using an antenna. And a few of those who like to watch DVDs and Blu-ray discs said they borrow them at no cost from the library.
—Eileen McCooey
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