The worst innovation in television has been the institution of "pop-up" ads during the show. When an ad obscures the bottom third of the screen, I hit the button on the remote.
It's bad enough that 1/3 to 1/2 of the programming time of a show is taken up with commercials (one channel got 3.5 hours out of 'Independance Day', for example), they also scrunch up the screen to show commercials banner ads during what limited time the show is actually on? Pisses me off too. I switch to something else. Screw 'em.
And cable is worse than commercial TV in that regard. For something originally sold to be ad free it's turning into a joke.
Cable is dying because of it. Satellite radio is predicted to be bigger than cable, but IMO it will falter because of the personnel ethics, bordering on 'sick', of the management.