Cox Communications signs deal to prevent ad-skipping during certain programs

There are two reasons that a person would purchase a DVR, one is to record shows that they might not get to watch otherwise, and to pause live TV and then catch up during the commercials. However, the days of skipping through the commercials may be coming to an end.

Cox Communications has signed a deal with ABC and ESPN to provide on-demand content to customers, however, you will not be able to use the fast-forward feature on your DVR while watching that programming.

So far this only affects on-demand broadcasting, but how long before they make new deals to disable fast-forwarding during regular shows? Sounds like it’s time to buy your own media center PC or build a MythTV box. That way they won’t be able to control what you can and can’t do with your content.

Cox to Introduce Anti Commercial-Skipping Technology [via digitimes]