Please read the article from USA Today about television ads before reading this response.
Television networks have been centered more often lately on making more commercial dollars than actual good programming. With numerous shows being submitted into the Fall season line-up every year, at least over half the shows are not renewed for the following year. For example: the NBC show “Inconceivable” which only lasted two episodes on Friday night before being yanked off the air for another repeat of a “Law & Order” program.
Almost within the past five years, commercials take up about 1/3 of an allotted time slot.
While recording some of my favorite sitcoms and dramas, the webmaster has noticed how long these shows last on average.
The NBC sitcom, “The Office,” averages about 21 minutes of air-time while showing nine minutes worth of commercials. In addition, through time many veteran shows have gone through a transformation in time of the actual show and commercials.
In 1994, the NBC drama, “ER” had episodes last on average about 46 minutes; however, now in it’s twelfth season on NBC, “ER” episodes last about 42 minutes and the show starts a minute earlier at 9:59 PM to add another minute for commercial ads.
For many viewers, it’s a challenge to get into a storyline with 7 minutes of programming then followed by another 3 minutes worth of commercials in one setting.
But wait, there’s even more ads. Most broadcast networks and channels add captions at the bottom of the screen almost every time a show gets back on the air to promote another program coming on later that night.
Then, of course, there’s product placement in a show in which the writer’s have to find a way to creatively market a product while remaining in the storyline. For example, a character on a show describing in full detail all the facts about buying his new car describing the features and talking about the brand.
As a result, many viewers just wait for their favorite shows to go on DVD so they do not have to be bombarded with all the ads. Case in point, the FOX animated series “Family Guy,” from being cancelled to being renewed for more seasons due to high DVD sales.
For the best example of commercial advertising is the FOX ratings hit, “American Idol.” A 30 second commercial for the upcoming season will cost over $1 million dollars. Now that’s raking it in when you see Simon Cowell drink a Coca-Cola drink at the judges table while the contestants drive around the Los Angeles area in their blue, Ford SUV while text messaging each other on a Cingular Wireless phone.
It’s not like cable channels have shown less commercials since people pay more money on the television bills to receive these channels. Like on the MTV show, “Total Request Live” (“TRL”) just showing a music video for about 30 seconds with a teenage girl giving a shout-out in the middle of the video and a scroll on the bottom reminding the viewers about upcoming shows and events for the artist. Then, they show about 6 minutes worth of ads until they bring on some celebrity to plug their next project.
The webmaster just wonders what will advertisers come up with next. Maybe with those new computer chip tracking devices, companies can monitor what consumers spend their money on in the future.