The Tivo 30-second Commercial Skip Hack

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/127787.html' target='_blank'>http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/127787.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"One of the religious differences between TiVo and ReplayTV owners is how they fast forward through commercials. While TiVo's <img src="http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/127788.gif" /> button will get you through those intrusive breaks soon enough, it requires some trained skill to manipulate those <img src="http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/127788.gif" /> and <img src="http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/127789.gif" /> buttons while keeping a keen eye and trusting your instincts to anticipate the end of the commercials. ReplayTV, on the other hand, has a "30-second skip" button, timed specifically for skipping through commercials. Since television commercials are traditionally a multiple of 30 seconds long, ReplayTV owners just hit the "30-second skip" button three to five times to render commercials only a minor annoyance."</i><br /><br />I <i>think</i> most of you Tivo owners already know this, but in case you don't, check out this tip.

[Mike Temporale]

And in case the MCE crowd wasn't aware, you can use the skip button to jump 28 seconds ahead. There is also a Power Toy on the Microsoft web site that will allow you to change the amount of seconds it jumps. :)

[OSUKid7]

And in case the MCE crowd wasn't aware, you can use the skip button to jump 28 seconds ahead. There is also a Power Toy on the Microsoft web site that will allow you to change the amount of seconds it jumps. :)
That's good to hear since I'll be getting a MCE laptop. I loved the 30-second skip button on my ReplayTV, but gave that up for the Time Warner DVR almost a year ago. It was well worth it, but I've missed that function. (I've gotten quite good at fast forwarding and stopping at the right point though. :))

[Crocuta]

I'm probably an oddball about this :silly: , but I like running through the commercials in Tivo at 2-click fast forward (the middle of the three speeds). It takes very little time and it's just slow enough that I can sense if there's something of interest like a movie coming up that I might want to see. I probably stop during the commericals... oh maybe one out of ten times to check out some upcoming show, many of which I go ahead and set to record. It's pretty easy to pick up that intuition about when to stop the fast forward, and since it backs up a bit when you hit play I almost always pick up right as the show starts again. The 30-second hack is dead simple to do, but I've never really wanted to.

[crstbo623]

I was really excited about doing this hack, but I can't seem to get it to work. Can anyone lend a hand? I am assuming that what the article mentions as the R in a circle key is to select right on the arrow pad.

Any advice?

Thanks

[Crocuta]

I was really excited about doing this hack, but I can't seem to get it to work. Can anyone lend a hand? I am assuming that what the article mentions as the R in a circle key is to select right on the arrow pad.

Here it is from a different source that includes images of the keys. This version is easier to follow.

http://www.bigmarv.net/how/tivo30secondskip.html