Grievence of the Week: Excessive Commercial Breaks

In this economy, I understand the need for advertisement, especially for those shows that are expensive to make. But does there have to be so damn many of them? Seriously, I could get a snack and eat it, floss, brush my teeth, wash my face, and still the commercial would still be going. Commercials are now five to six minutes long, and that’s not counting the product placements we see during the actual show.

Last year, two of Fox’s shows, Dollhouse and Fringe, were presented with limited commercial breaks. Both shows only had sixty to ninety-second breaks, which made the shows much easier to get into, especially for me, who changes the channel during breaks and then forgets what she was just watching!

Here’s another thing that “grinds my gears” (quote from Peter Griffin, thank you very much), the fact that advertisers and Nielsen ratings, more or less, decide the fate of a show. “Pushing Daisies” is a prime example of this. It was an expensive show to produce and because the archaic Nielsen ratings showed it wasn’t getting many viewers, it was canned. The Nielsen’s take a sample audience, compile electronically what they watch and have them write a diary of their television preferences. It seems archaic because, the TV media has expanded to the Internet and also DVR’s.

Television shows that are popular on DVR get no attention, because the consumer can just zap through the commercials without a second look. The truth is, if a viewer really wanted to see a commercial, they would stop and watch it. These numbers shouldn’t be ignored just because the advertiser’s dollars aren’t being well spent.

It’s frustrating to me, a scripted show lover, that the all mighty dollar is more important than keeping quality television on the air. So here’s my proposal: base your decision on canning a show on whether it’s good or not, stop with the incessant commercials, and do in-show advertising like they did back when commercials first began. More importantly, less commercials means viewers will be less tempted to reach for the remote and change to another station.