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Channel Surfing & Commercials
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Aug 2, 2020 14:59:31   #
Indi Loc: L. I., NY, Palm Beach Cty when it's cold.
 
Am I imagining this?
It seems that every time I tune to a new TV station I’m in the middle of a commercial. Not all stations, but most. I realize that there might be standardized times when most stations schedule and coordinate commercials (i.e. 12:15 or 12:30 or 12:25 etc.,) Or, there are so many more commercials vs broadcasts that the odds of channel surfing and find a broadcast are decreased. OR, is there something in broadcast systems that open a commercial when you turn to the channel.
That last possibility is strictly a guess from my warped mind.
Any thoughts?

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Aug 2, 2020 15:15:45   #
Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States
 
Yea, I noticed that happen sometimes.

Start a timer on your phone when an hour program starts, stopping it for commercials, restarting it when the show comes back on.
Are hour shows still about 45 minutes long? They were in the mid sixties.
That means that there are 15 minutes of commercials during the hour show.
More if they edit some scenes, and where they cut in for the commercials.
If they run 3 minutes of commercials, they will do that 5 times during the show.
They may average 12 minutes between commercial sets.

Yea, if many channels do commercials about every 12 minutes, when you check other channels during commercials on one, good chances you'll hit commercials on others.

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Aug 2, 2020 15:29:59   #
DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA
 
I think that's been happening since before I stopped watching TV a couple decades ago.

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Aug 2, 2020 15:51:40   #
Harry0 Loc: Gardena, Cal
 
Longshadow wrote:
Yea, I noticed that happen sometimes.

Start a timer on your phone when an hour program starts, stopping it for commercials, restarting it when the show comes back on.
Are hour shows still about 45 minutes long? They were in the mid sixties.
That means that there are 15 minutes of commercials during the hour show.
More if they edit some scenes, and where they cut in for the commercials.
If they run 3 minutes of commercials, they will do that 5 times during the show.
They may average 12 minutes between commercial sets.

Yea, if many channels do commercials about every 12 minutes, when you check other channels during commercials on one, good chances you'll hit commercials on others.
Yea, I noticed that happen sometimes. br br Start... (show quote)


They're down to maybe @ 40 or so, mostly.
Don't forget to also add in the intro and outro.
And that *expletive* in the middle- 5min commercials, 30seconds on promo, another 5mins commercials.
Comes out to @ half crapola and half content.

Reply
Aug 2, 2020 15:58:33   #
SteveR Loc: Michigan
 
Standard times. Discourages channel surfing.

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Aug 2, 2020 16:10:08   #
Indi Loc: L. I., NY, Palm Beach Cty when it's cold.
 
I use YouTube TV. When I watch a recorded show, I noticed that an hour show IS now around 40 minutes AND there is sometimes a, “Coming Up Next,” which could last 15-30 seconds more making even less actual show time.
While I’m at it, how about those shows, like Fallon & others, where they go back to the show & star after 3 minutes of commercials & basically they take maybe a minute of air time, & then go into another 3 minutes of commercials.

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Aug 2, 2020 18:27:07   #
JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco
 
I don't have the problem since I don't channel surf. I record everything I want to watch and I can zap the commercials. Xfinity even offers "smart resume" on some channels so you just start the fast forward when the commercial starts, and it resumes the show when the commercial is over.

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Aug 2, 2020 19:28:05   #
dancers Loc: melbourne.victoria, australia
 
We record everything and zap the commercials when watching...........life is too short to watch Crap.

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Aug 3, 2020 06:42:18   #
Canonuser Loc: UK and South Africa
 
Longshadow wrote:
Yea, I noticed that happen sometimes.

Start a timer on your phone when an hour program starts, stopping it for commercials, restarting it when the show comes back on.
Are hour shows still about 45 minutes long? They were in the mid sixties.
That means that there are 15 minutes of commercials during the hour show.
More if they edit some scenes, and where they cut in for the commercials.
If they run 3 minutes of commercials, they will do that 5 times during the show.
They may average 12 minutes between commercial sets.

Yea, if many channels do commercials about every 12 minutes, when you check other channels during commercials on one, good chances you'll hit commercials on others.
Yea, I noticed that happen sometimes. br br Start... (show quote)

In the UK I tend to record most programmes on commercial channels (BBC does not have adverts). When watching the recordings I have become pretty adept at running the fast forward button to avoid them. I’ve found that most advert slots are exactly four minutes long. In practice this is around 16 minutes per hour.
Strangely if the show is broadcast in the middle of the night, the advert slots can be just two minutes long.

Reply
Aug 3, 2020 07:05:42   #
nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL
 
This is true! I remember when cable first came out they said because we paid for it there would be no commercials! Now, besides breaking constantly for commercials, they are flashing adds on the screen during the show.

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Aug 3, 2020 07:19:31   #
Stash Loc: South Central Massachusetts
 
I usually mute the sound on commercials. Most commercials are crappy and the volume is much too loud.

Reply
 
 
Aug 3, 2020 07:34:47   #
TomC. Loc: Bel Air, MD
 
Indi wrote:
Am I imagining this?
It seems that every time I tune to a new TV station I’m in the middle of a commercial. Not all stations, but most. I realize that there might be standardized times when most stations schedule and coordinate commercials (i.e. 12:15 or 12:30 or 12:25 etc.,) Or, there are so many more commercials vs broadcasts that the odds of channel surfing and find a broadcast are decreased. OR, is there something in broadcast systems that open a commercial when you turn to the channel.
That last possibility is strictly a guess from my warped mind.
Any thoughts?
Am I imagining this? br It seems that every time... (show quote)


Yeah, I've noticed that. What I don't understand is a show having a commercial for the show I'm actually watching. Why would they waist airtime doing that? Just a time filler I suppose. In my opinion, there are more commercials than ever for the last several years. So annoying.

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Aug 3, 2020 07:37:38   #
nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL
 
TomC. wrote:
Yeah, I've noticed that. What I don't understand is a show having a commercial for the show I'm actually watching. Why would they waist airtime doing that? Just a time filler I suppose. In my opinion, there are more commercials than ever for the last several years. So annoying.


Yes, I hate when they do that because I always watch shows that I've recorded so I can fast forward through the commercials.

Reply
Aug 3, 2020 07:59:12   #
sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD
 
The shows are all about commercials. Every now and then they try to squeeze in a little programming.Without the recording/fast forward option I probably would not watch much of anything on TV. Options like Netflix are enjoyable

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Aug 3, 2020 08:04:01   #
Dannj
 
There are some commercials that are better than the shows they interrupt😳

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