Commercial Debate

[blas87]

This one is simple.

Which TV network do you think has the longest, or most frequent commercial breaks?

Which TV network has the most annoying commercials? (this is pertinent because for example, most of the time during daytime TV, all commercials are geared towards women and babies).

I think USA Network has the longest commercial breaks. Look, if I can pour myself a glass of juice, go out for a smoke, and go to the bathroom and sit down on the couch and it's still commercial break, it's too much commercial and not enough SVU here.

I think during football games, namely on FOX, there are too frequent of commercials. I fail to understand why sometimes they take a break, go back to the game, one play, and it's another commercial. Ridiculous.

My response to most annoying commercials....I have a really hard time answering, because being a night person, I'm usually awake during the ever-so-annoying infomercials in the early AM every weekend. I think I have the speil for ProActiv, Wen, and Bare Minerals completely memorized.

[Racket_Man]

This one is simple.

My response to most annoying commercials....I have a really hard time answering, because being a night person, I'm usually awake during the ever-so-annoying infomercials in the early AM every weekend. I think I have the speil for ProActiv, Wen, and Bare Minerals completely memorized.

same here Blas. I may not work graveyards but I am up til sometimes 5 am after getting home at 3am.

when I watch TV during the day I will agree with you about the length of the breaks. I will flip around to other channels just to get the commercials off of the screen esp if a particular commercial is in (to use an old MTV reference) "heavy rotation" and is played during EVERY break.

I have to quote Bruce Springstein and say "57 channels and nothin on" at that time of the morning. most channels play nothing but infomercials after 2am.

[Rageaholic]

I think CBS has the longest and most frequent commercial breaks. Every time I watch Big Bang Theory, I find myself saying "ANOTHER COMMERCIAL?! COME ON!!". And when I used to watch The Price is Right, I remember there being 9 commercial breaks. NINE BREAKS for an hour long program! Luckly they were shortened, but it was still annoying.

As for most annoying, I would say USA, but only because they constantly advertise their shows until you are sick of hearing them. I remember when I would see ads for "White Collar" every. frickin. break. Sometimes they would advertise it twice in a break! I think they did the same thing with "Covert Affairs" (a show I like), but the way they advertise their new shows, you will not forget them.

[AdminAssistant]

I watch a lot of Animal Planet during the day, and apparently so do a lot of older people as the commercials are all for Hover-rounds, Life Alert, diabetes testing supplies, and catheters.

[HYHYBT]

The football thing, only one play between commercials... sometimes they do that sort of thing to make room for longer segments of show elsewhere. And, though I know it's a secondary consideration, sometimes it may have to do with where a natural break in the game occurs.

At least with sports, when they add commercials they just make the game run longer. Other types of programming, they shave down the content. This is why shows got rid of their long openings long ago. This is why the Donny Osmond version of Pyramid, if anyone happens to remember that, used 20-second rounds instead of 30; that's three minutes saved per show, never mind that it throws off the playability (which they'd messed up anyway, but I'm starting to ramble, and that will be more useful for the purpose of discussing commercials if I save it for the next paragraph.)

Someone mentioned The Price is Right. The show naturally divides into ten pieces: six pricing games, two Showcase Showdowns, the Showcases, and the end. Not only are those each logical stopping points anyway, but in each of those breaks (even the one after the Showcases) the contents of the set are rearranged. (And it used to be, at least, that the show taped in more or less real time unless something went wrong.) But the *time* devoted to commercials has grown quite a lot since 1975, which is why you see a heavier emphasis on quick, one-decision games. A fairly recent change is having only 8 breaks; they got rid of the first one. That doesn't mean less commercial time, but the reason for it, if I understand correctly, is interesting. Apparently, ratings are counted by how many people watch at least the first so many minutes. Postponing the first commercial helps keep people from switching too soon.

[Andara Bledin]

I'm pretty sure that there's a regulation somewhere that states there must be x minutes of show for every half hour of air time, so while it may seem that some shows have more commercials than others, it's likely mostly subjective.

^-.-^

[LexiaFira]

sometimes its not the length of the break but maybe the amount of commercial breaks.
a few shows on mtv will start, go in ten minutes and whoop commercial break! and its an hour long show, yeah i lost interest in this if there are going to be many numerous breaks and most of them are of the SAME or very similar content plugging your own stuff that doesn't come out until weeks later!

(about the same as when cartoon network plugged adventure time in almost every commercial break of theirs they could.)

[blas87]

Adult Swim has a lot of commercials, but a few shows are only 15 minutes, so I can see how that works.

USA, yes, those damn show ads. Sometimes you're watching an SVU marathon and there's a thing for Covert Affairs in the corner of the screen, then two commercials for it during the break. For real?

[Racket_Man]

this discussion of long comercial breaks got me thinking about one of my fabvorite show from my childhood: STAR TREK: the original series

Now ST:OS was broadcast on NBC in the mid to late 1960s.. Yes I was able to watch EVERY original episode in its entirety. a year or two after it was canceled it went in the syndication. one of the local indie stations picked it up and I was able to feed my adiction once again. I watched every episode enough times that I had all of them practaically memorized.

after a couple of years on the indie station I started to notice, very subtily at first, peices missing from the show. a little cut here, some ship running across the screen cut out there, etc.

It then got to the point that they started to cut whole scenes and dialogue out just get the run time shorter so to put more commercials in. it got to the point that some episodes made no sense anymore because of all of the cuts that were made.

[Gravekeeper]

It then got to the point that they started to cut whole scenes and dialogue out just get the run time shorter so to put more commercials in. it got to the point that some episodes made no sense anymore because of all of the cuts that were made.

I imagine this actually a problem for a lot of older shows that were made back when an hour long show was actually an hour long. These days, an hour long show is actually 45-46 minutes to make room for adverts. While a half hour show is around 22-24 minutes. Once you include the opening and ending credits thats shaved down even more.

You don't notice it when watching them on TV so much. But if you actually buy the show on DVD/Blu-Ray and start seeing the actual run times of the show, it can be a bit surprising.

[Rapscallion]

Back when I had access to a TV, and commercials aren't the only reason I choose not to indulge, we had ST:TNG on the BBC. Cuts where commercials usually were were obvious, but most episodes were in the 40-45 minute region.

In the meantime, I've received an email from Amazon offering the original series on DVD and remastered at a very affordable price. Very, very tempted. Wondering if everything's intact?

Rapscallion

[Gravekeeper]

Back when I had access to a TV, and commercials aren't the only reason I choose not to indulge, we had ST:TNG on the BBC. Cuts where commercials usually were were obvious, but most episodes were in the 40-45 minute region.

1 hour shows seem to have lost about 5 minutes per decade.

80's was around 50 minutes
90's was around 45
Now it's around 38-42 depending on the show and the network

So by 2020 a 1 hour show will really be a half hour show, and a half hour show will be a commercial break. >.>

[telecom_goddess]

In the meantime, I've received an email from Amazon offering the original series on DVD and remastered at a very affordable price. Very, very tempted. Wondering if everything's intact?

Rapscallion

I haven't seen these on dvd but I would imagine they are a lot more intact. FYI Netflix has everything star trek in their instant viewing right now. I LOVE star trek and can indulge myself whenever I want.

But anyway if u are that tempted to have the series on DVD I would personally go for it.

[Andara Bledin]

You don't notice it when watching them on TV so much. But if you actually buy the show on DVD/Blu-Ray and start seeing the actual run times of the show, it can be a bit surprising.

We watch our TV through Netflix or Hulu. We budget about 20 minutes for a show that fills a half hour slot and 40 minutes for a show filling an hour slot.

^-.-^

[AdminAssistant]

I'll tell you what I can't stand about Hulu Plus. I pay for it...and I still have to watch commercials. Fewer commercials than cable, but still.