darkoshi: (Default)
Darkoshi ([personal profile] darkoshi) wrote2021-05-30 01:09 am

online TV streams freezing during ads - potential work-around

I've been streaming the show "A Million Little Things" on the abc.com website.
I used the MS-Edge browser for it at first. But there was a problem - except for the ads at the start of the show, the ads did not play. At the ad breaks, the playback simply froze and didn't continue even if I waited for several minutes. I got past the problem a few times by reloading the page but later even doing that didn't help.

So that day I switched to using the Chrome browser. It had some problems too, but at least the playback didn't freeze and I was able to watch the show.

But today while watching another episode, my Chrome browser froze up at the ads like MS-Edge did last time. Reloading the page multiple times didn't help.

So then I tried playing the show in a Chrome incognito window. That way, the ads played fine and I was able to finish watching the show. So hopefully this method will work next time too.
frith: Violet unicorn cartoon pony grinning like Cheshire Cat (FIM Twilight crazy)

[personal profile] frith 2021-05-30 11:07 am (UTC)(link)
The targeted ads approach is so very broken. It's invasive, it's fraught with malware potential, it's lazy and since every corporate entity down the pipeline wants a piece of your attention, it ruins the stream by preempting it at unforeseen instances with adverts. At least on broadcast TV, ads only interrupt live broadcasts, other programs pause to sell you soap and resume thereafter. In print media and local over the air broadcasts, the venue knows what is in the ads. So I use an adblocker and turn off cookies and JavaScript at every opportunity.