As we previously reported, TiVo will now run pre-roll advertisements at the beginning of your DVR recordings within the next few months. This will be on all retail hardware running the TiVo Experience 4 or Hydra The ads are skippable, but if you want to opt-out completely, keep reading.
Thanks to this post by Dave Zatz at Zatz Not Funny, we have two options on removing the ads from your user experience.
Option 1: Downgrade from Hydra
Since the pre-roll ads are Hydra exclusive, downgrading can opt-you out of seeing them. Nearly all Roamio, Bolt, and Mini hardware can be downgraded with the exception of the newest TiVo Bolt OTA and TiVO Edge, according to Zatz. The downside is you’ll have to give up automatic commercial skip, the Vox remote control capabilities, and lose your current recordings. The only way around losing your shows is using pytivo to move them to a computer, then downgrade, then move them back again.
Hydra downgrade procedure for DVR:
- Go into Menu- Help- Reset to Defaults- Repeat Guided Setup- Select
- Press Thumbs Down 2 times (NOT 3!), now press Rewind 2 times, Now press Select (not Enter)
- DVR will immediately go to that right arrow screen, then screen blank, then you’ll get a message letting you know that the rollback process has begun
Hydra downgrade procedure for Mini:
- Go to Menu- Help- Repeat Guided Setup- press Thumbs Down 3 times and press Enter OR
- You’ll already see the “downgrade” screen and it will prompt you from there
- You’ll now see the “old” Guided Setup. Go thru that so the Mini can phone home
- The Mini will phone home and prompt you once again to go thru Guided Setup
- After the 2nd Guided Setup completion, you should be back in business
Option 2: Call TiVo
Zatz reports you can call TiVo directly at 877-367-8486 and ask for the pre-roll ads be disabled on your account. Since the ads seem to be a bit sluggish and even may lock up or have rendering issues, you could report that as a reason you want to opt-out. Zatz says they should remove the ads within the next 72 hours – fingers crossed they comply. This seems to have worked so far, but there’s no real guarantee TiVo customer service will be obliged to help.
Have you experienced the new pre-roll ads on your DVR shows yet? Have you tried opting out? Let us know if it worked for you.
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