Levin (before I kicked him to the curb) did the same thing. Right in the middle of a discussion about The Constitution, he’d suddenly say, “But there’s something I gotta tell you first. Serta mattresses are great and the only thing I sleep on...” Or it was something about investing in gold. No segue, right in the middle of the show, he’d hard turn into an ad. It was bizarre and kinda jarring. That format sucks. Keep the ads separate from the show, what he does is disturbing.
They get paid extra for those ads. They're supposedly more effective because dim bulbs believe the host is sincere. And if you blend the ad into the show it's not as easy to switch stations, you can't be sure when he'll get back on topic.
I find that only mildly jarring....it is free radio after all, and commercials are their source of income. My point was to the volume and likely income for Beck.