Posted on 03/06/2016 2:26:26 PM PST by Leaning Right
It’s gotten so bad having to fast forward through commercials on my Tivo that I hardly use it any more. It’s all Netflix and Amazon Prime streaming for me (with the occasional Netflix DVD thrown in for rare titles not in anybody’s streaming catalog).
I’ve also noticed lately is the “sandwich” that the Discovery Channel seems to do on it’s more popular shows.
They’ll have commercials, then a 1-2 minutes of filler material from the show you are watching, then another round of commercials.
All in all why I never watch live TV. If I don’t record it so I can skip through commercials, don’t watch it.
If there is something I want to watch on TV, I record it and then fast forward through the commercials. There are things I would never watch if I could not do that.
A DVR is the only way to go these days with all the commercials. I like the old 30 minute “Gunsmoke” episodes from the late 50’s on the Western Channel - without ads they are 25 minutes long.
Funny you mention “43 minutes.” That happens to be the exact content length for “Person of Interest” on Netflix.
About 9 years ago I attended a funeral of someone whose daughter then worked at Fox News (doesn't any longer). Before the Mass started I overheard two men discussing why they didn't watch Fox: (1) too many commercials and (2) too much of people yelling at each other.
I quit when it went digital and I lost all signal (what was that - about 7 or 8 years ago?). I was acutely aware of this effect even then and realized I was there at my expense and their entertainment. Like you say, I walked away and haven’t regretted it.
We only watch online, but we have Amazon Prime and we do go to the network sites for just broadcast shows.
When we first got Netflix, I noticed how short the (commercial-free) content was. A “30-minute” show would be 22 minutes including credits and pre/post-commercial fill.
And another thing I’ve noticed. Not only are the commercials taking up more time they have changed their tenor, at least on the stations I frequent.
Remember the good old days when TV and radio commercials tried to get you to buy their product by selling ‘useful’ ‘tasty’, ‘sexy’ and/or ‘fun’?
Now just about every ad I see sells fear and/or greed.
I swear that 90% of the programs I watch would NOT air if it wasn’t for the hucksters of ‘miracle cures’, followed by commercials of lawyers wanting you to hire them to sue the manufacturers of those same ‘miracle cures’. Or ripoff life insurance programs or “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!’ systems.
In the same vein, Rush was also a lot more listenable when I first listened to him in 1990 and the early 90s.
You get DVR, record the show... fast forward through commercials. I never watch a commercial. There is no show so important I have to watch it the moment it comes on. Except, of course the UFC fight last night but that is another topic.
No, we don't. I quit watching commercial TV in 1998.
Prior to 1952 commercials used to be 15 minutes between one show and the next and that was it.
“Now just about every ad I see sells fear and/or greed.”
And features a inter-racial couple (most usually a white man and a black woman. . .wonder why).
And they usually have a bi-racial child.
And let’s not forget homosexuals, too.
Used to be commercials aimed their pitches at their most likely demographic. . .not so much today, unless you think an inter-racial homosexual couple with a bi-racial kid is a major market segment.
You can also track it by simply looking at the complete episode (without commercials) play times. You are lucky to get 41-42 minutes out of a 60 minute time slot these days.
Its ridiculous. On many movie channels, 2 hour long movies take three hours of watching time.
Channel surfing is now actually commercial surfing.
I’m fairly certain the Good Lord invented the DVR to allow me to avoid commercials. Simply record a show you want to watch and, go do something else then watch at your lesiure sans 90% of the commercials.
“Remember the good old days when TV and radio commercials tried to get you to buy their product by selling ‘useful’ ‘tasty’, ‘sexy’ and/or ‘fun’?”
Oh, and angry liberals are to blame for that: NO ONE BETTER BE HAPPY when there is so much injustice in the US, no one!
TV and radio both use what is called a "Flex Clock," with approx. (flexible)times slotted for commercial breaks in each hour. Usually, the first break is at :10 or :18 minutes past the hour, then again at the bottom of the hour, at :40 mins, then finally a break at :50. In TV they often have a final break just before the top of the hour at the end of the show.
After puppy-monkey-baby, that exception went out the window as well.
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