Commercials playing while program continues to run

[amdew7171]

Lately I have noticed something new....I will be watching a program, then suddenly it is interrupted abruptly for a series of local commercials, usually including one for "FiOS." Sometimes it happens very soon after a "regular" commercial which usually happens at an appropriate breaking point in the program. These "local" commercials do not occur at an appropriate breaking point.

But here is the WORST part. When the program is resumed, it is not picking up at the same point where it left off. It is as though the program has been running the whole time the commercial has been playing, so you are missing large "chunks" of a show and often important parts of a story.

Sometimes, these "local" commericials even interrupt a "regular" commercial, and when they are finished and the program is resumed, the "regular" commerical is still playing. What is this all about???? I am appalled by this and I am ready to cancel FiOS altogether. I have noticed this mainly on FX.

[retiredme]

This is not something new to longtime subscribers, nor is it unique to VZ. You will find the same concern about commercial interruptions for almost every provider. The short answer seems to lie with how all the automated computer routines signal each other with embedded signals whenever a designated time slot is available for commercial insertion. Frequently, things get out of synch for a few seconds here and there, and you miss the first 5 seconds or so following a commercial break. Here's another thread dealing with the topic:

 http://forums.verizon.com/t5/FiOS-TV-Programming/Local-amp-FiOS-ads-interrupting-program-content/td-...