TV's Answer Man
Want to Skip Commercials On DIRECTV?
By Swanni
Washington, D.C. (February 4, 2013) --
Editor's Note: TV's Answer Man, aka Swanni, takes your
questions regarding how to best use the latest products and
services in TV technology.
If you have a question about TV technology, ask TV's Answer Man by sending an e-mail to
swann@tvpredictions.com
Q. I've been reading
about the Dish Hopper HD DVR which can automatically skip
commercials and I've been getting jealous because I have
DIRECTV. I get tired of having to fast-forward through the ads
and I often mess up and stop the Fast Forwarding long after the
show begins again. So, help me Mr. Answer Man. Is there any way
to skip the ads on DIRECTV? -- Mike, Cleveland, Ohio.
The Dish Hopper HD DVR has a feature that allows you to
automatically skip commercials during the recorded playback of
network broadcast shows (NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox) in primetime. You
have to manually set the feature, but once you do, it will skip
past the ads as if they never existed.
DIRECTV does not have a similar feature on its HD DVR. (At least
not yet; DIRECTV CEO Mike White recently said his company also
owns an ad-zapping technology but has decided not to implement
it for now.)
But DIRECTV does have a semi-secret 30-second skip feature that
can make it easier to sail past commercials when watching a
recorded show.
Here's how it works:
Press the Menu button on your remote.
Then click on the 'Search and Browse' header. After that, click
on Smart Search and then hit Select. At that point, you type in
the word, 30SKIP.
Next, press the (RED) button on your remote and make sure the
'ALL" header is highlighted. If it is, hit Select.
You'll then see a line that reads, "There are no matching
programs at this time."
Press Exit and you're done!
At this point when you watch a record show, the Fast-Forward
button will automatically skip 30 seconds every time you touch
it. Since commercials are usually produced in 30-second spots,
all you have to do is hit the FF button 4 or 5 times when a
commercial break begins. This should take you back to the
beginning of the next scene following the break.
If you want to return to the regular Fast Forward Skip, which
display the commercial on screen as you fast forward past it,
repeat the same steps as above but type in 30SLIP instead of
30SKIP.
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