forgot to mention- early commercials were only like 15 seconds or so- and there were only a few at a time- your main show would be back on before you could run out to the kitchen for a snack-
today commercials take so much time you could play a game of janga, or take a shower before the show reappears, and while you are watching the show- commercials break over the top of the show, taking up about 1/8-1/4 of the screen, blocking out the show’s important areas on the screen- making it impossible to read the text at the bottom of the screen, or see scores until the commercials are over
I remember early commercials running a full minute.
It’s today’s that are short, around 15 seconds. 30 at most.