Does this bug anyone else: U.S. shows have too many commercials, too little ep now!

[Matt S]

Ok, I watch most stuff online, and the current average lenght of a one hour U.S. show is approx 42:30 (give or take 15 seconds or so), but I turn into Harper's Island (as one example) and its running at just over 40 min.....

WoW!

I mean it'll be a year from now before shows will be 39:50, then 38:30 etc - at what point will the broadcast people stop with the ever shortening of shows?

Does this bug the heck out of anyone else? I mean, its so hard to make a show with a complete beginning, middle and end with an hour to do it - now the creators barely get 40 minutes....

 

[EVILFACE]

Not really, I dvr most shows I watch and ff through them.

BTW Harpers Island has been cheezie fun so far.

 

[Darth Madden]

I know it used to be 7 1/2 minutes per half hour of commercials but obviously its more now. It does kind of make a show sometimes seem "incomplete" when they don't have enough time.

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

It definitely bugs the crap out of me, and what's worse is now it seems like they have all the channels sychronized to show commercials at the same time so you can't even flip around to avoid them anymore.

 

[karamazov80]

Money makes the world go 'round, sadly. I can't believe they haven't implemented commercial breaks during movies, actually. We get regular commercials before them, the next step is a break every 10 minutes to see Geico commercials and whatnot.

Personally, I just want to stare at a McDonald's logo for 30 minutes, while repeating their corporate slogan over and over, renewing my oath of fealty each time.

 

[ProgMatinee]

Its only going to get worse. I think shows will soon have fixed ad space either on the top of the screen or on the sides that will be there DURING the shows. As screens get bigger networks will just figure the space can be appropriated for ads. Letter box shows and movies on may have ads on the top and bottom.

 

[Memnoch]

That's why I enjoy shows such as Doctor Who. Nearly a full hour of tv, sometimes longer. The BBC Model is where it's at.

 

[Balsquat]

Its only going to get worse. I think shows will soon have fixed ad space either on the top of the screen or on the sides that will be there DURING the shows. As screens get bigger networks will just figure the space can be appropriated for ads. Letter box shows and movies on may have ads on the top and bottom.

This can't happen.
Letter box does not work that way, but i can understand your concern

 

[Matt S]

That's why I enjoy shows such as Doctor Who. Nearly a full hour of tv, sometimes longer. The BBC Model is where it's at.

I agree. Completely - and yes, if I had a choice in how the U.S does it and had to run commercials, I'd rather have the Network run one 10 minute commercial at the beginning, then give us 50 min of show!

The BBC format too me a while - while longer episodes, their seasons are generally much shorter! But, there's very little 'fat' as it were!

 

[karamazov80]

Its only going to get worse. I think shows will soon have fixed ad space either on the top of the screen or on the sides that will be there DURING the shows. As screens get bigger networks will just figure the space can be appropriated for ads. Letter box shows and movies on may have ads on the top and bottom.

I usually don't feel this way, but ProgMatinee is right on this one, capitalism is bad.

 

[Memnoch]

I agree. Completely - and yes, if I had a choice in how the U.S does it and had to run commercials, I'd rather have the Network run one 10 minute commercial at the beginning, then give us 50 min of show!

The BBC format too me a while - while longer episodes, their seasons are generally much shorter! But, there's very little 'fat' as it were!

I think that's why a lot of shows are gravitating towards pay cable. You have the time between shows and then you get 50 minutes of show.

 

[The Mike]

It bugs me but not to the point of really getting upset. The network shows aren't as bad as some cable though because I was watching Real World/Road Rules Challenge the other day and realized there was a commercial break after every 5 minutes give or take which means the actual show itself is probably only about 16-20 minutes...and the 20 minutes is generous. I DVR almost everything so I can just get through the show without waiting.

 

[Matt S]

Yeah, I need to join the DVR world - and I wish tv would adapt the pay cable method...but, it'll never happen. As posted earlier, I am shocked that there are no commercials with eps yet.

 

[King Darkness]

I havent watched a commercial in a few years. DVR everything. Live TV is for chumps.

 

[THX-182]

Well TV in general has gotten bad. What ever happened to good shows and sitcoms? Stuff like Fresh Prince of Bel Air and dare I even say Full House. TV now just seems like reality junk like The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Survivor, American Idol, and junk like that. Sorry but I don't see how anyone could give a ^^^^ who chooses to marry who on some dumb ass show. That's why I stopped watching TV.

But back on point, commercials don't seem to be any more frequent then they were when I grew up watching the tube. But I find myself more waiting for DVD release for shows rather than watching them on TV just to avoid commercials. The X-Files, Terminator Sarah Connor... All better without having to sit through a commercial. I have a DVR and could skip them if I ever watched anything that came on TV but I just wait for DVD.

 

[Hulksmashed]

Actually, with DVR and Tivo becoming extremely common, networks are still losing money because commercials are rarely watched. That means networks get less money per commercial and need more commercials to pay the bills.

Eventually I think this will work in our favor because the networks can only shorten a show so far before people just don't bother watching. So, a more common theme that has been popping up is sponsership during the show.

For example, the most recent episode of Chuck had a Buy More employee bribing the bossman with a Chicken Teriaky Sub from Subway. The boss in turn drooled over the Sub and recieted the tagline for the sandwich. Likewise, if you pay attention to most shows, the "generic" cola cans of yesterday have been replaced by Coke or Pepsi. Fast food is slowly going from "Burger Shacks" to McDonalds or Burger king....etc. etc. In other words, the show IS the commercial and everyone is happy.

 

[Hulksmashed]

Oh another common tactic if you pay attention is to make the first commercial at the break resemble the show in some way. A common theme, a similar look, similar looking actors or sounding dialogue. They intend to trick the viewer into thinking its part of theshow. Other commercials closer to the end of the break do the same thing hoping people hear or see a bit and run back into the room or stop fast forwarding.

Yet another tactic is to have one company sponser a show and give shorter and fewer commercial breaks. Fringe is an example of this. A sponser for the show brings 1 min commercial breaks instead of 3. This way the company comes across in a positive light and still gets recognized by the viewer.

Eventually, we will either see commercials soley as part of the show, or DVRs will work in a similar way to online viewing. You won't be able to FF through commercials. Its not outside the realm of possibility for them to put a lock on commercials.

 

[King Darkness]

Eventually, we will either see commercials soley as part of the show, or DVRs will work in a similar way to online viewing. You won't be able to FF through commercials. Its not outside the realm of possibility for them to put a lock on commercials.

This was rumored be happening about a year or so ago, I hope it never does, that would suck ass!

 

[Darth Madden]

For example, the most recent episode of Chuck had a Buy More employee bribing the bossman with a Chicken Teriaky Sub from Subway. The boss in turn drooled over the Sub and recieted the tagline for the sandwich. Likewise, if you pay attention to most shows, the "generic" cola cans of yesterday have been replaced by Coke or Pepsi. Fast food is slowly going from "Burger Shacks" to McDonalds or Burger king....etc. etc. In other words, the show IS the commercial and everyone is happy.

I think I would rather have it that way. First it makes the show seem more real if they are buying / using real products plus if it cuts down the commercials eventualy then its good.

 

[Hulksmashed]

I think I would rather have it that way. First it makes the show seem more real if they are buying / using real products plus if it cuts down the commercials eventualy then its good.

I agree! Much prefered to regular commercials. I think the best example of this was in the show Eureaka on Sci-Fi. They actually brought a money guru into Global Dynamic (advanced science facility) to turn things around financially and she decided they needed sponsership. So they start doing research for Degree Deoderant. The logo was everywhere and all the employees were using it. Actually a pretty clever toungue in cheek kinda sponsership!