Commercials are Annoying

If I remember correctly, cable television was originally hyped as a source of entertainment without commercials. It was the new, fresh alternative to network television with its proliferation of one commercial after another. The real value to early cable subscribers was solely the likes of HBO, Cinemax and the Showtime movie channels which were presented, as advertised, commercial free. At this early stage the jury was still out on cable. It took years before broadcasting companies both new and old recognized its value and began producing specialty programming.

Today, with the exception of some of the subscriber based movie channels, we are inundated with a variety of program choices that are virtually packed with an equal amount of commercials as programming. From the Food Network and Lifetime to ESPN or CNN, commercials almost, but not quite consume the lion’s share of a program’s length.

Last week we watched a movie on the Lifetime Movie Channel. The movie ran eight minutes then ran commercials for the next four. This schedule was fairly consistent throughout most of the movie. However in many instances as movies near the end, commercials often outpace the content.

Today, most network shows on CBS, ABC, Fox and NBC run slightly different schedules although I guess the average is about six minutes of programming to three minutes of commercial. That’s 20 minutes of commercial every hour. Another way of looking at this is 33% of your television viewing is commercial oriented.

Some of the talk shows run even more commercials. Take Dr. Phil or Montel for instance. Their schedule is approximately four minutes of programming to a two or three minute commercial break. Not only is the deluge of commercials annoying, it takes away from one’s interest in the program dialog.

Then there’s the repetition. Some advertisers see fit to run the same commercial numerous times within a program, if not back to back. It’s enough to make you want to pull your hair out! Toyota, are you listening?

And to add insult to injury this is an election year. Seems politicians employ the most mundane ad companies to produce their lies for them. Sure wish one or two would hire the company that produces the Anheuser Busch ads. Certainly at least one of the candidates might benefit from using the Clydesdale's. Might give new meaning to a horses’ ass.