Commercials

[Drakeburn]

Is it just me, or do we seem to watch more commercials than television shows and movies combined?

And commercials weren't a problem for me (since I very rarely watch television) until some moron thought it was a good idea to have commercials on Youtube videos (on the bright side, watching youtube is free. Almost........)

But above all the commercials shoved in my face, this commercial is my favorite one, and probably still is.

[JoshL]

As an artist, I appreciate commercials subsidizing content. I mean, you have to get paid somehow, right?

But as a consumer, I absolutely loathe commericials. That's why I don't watch broadcast tv (dvds and netflix for me). Don't watch enough youtube videos to really notice commercials. It's jarring when I'm visiting family and tv is on...just how many commercials there are. For the average person, you're probably right. No escape from the noise!

[Zevox]

Is it just me, or do we seem to watch more commercials than television shows and movies combined?

And commercials weren't a problem for me (since I very rarely watch television) until some moron thought it was a good idea to have commercials on Youtube videos (on the bright side, watching youtube is free. Almost........)

They really aren't a problem for me at this point. I barely watch TV, when I do I mute the thing and use my computer the commercials, and online I have Adblock Plus. Haven't really had to put up with them for some time as such, and I'm quite happy with that.

Zevox

[Dr.Epic]

And commercials weren't a problem for me (since I very rarely watch television) until some moron thought it was a good idea to have commercials on Youtube videos (on the bright side, watching youtube is free. Almost........)

Yeah, people making money and having a career by creating entertaining videos on sites like youtube and other website you can watch for free in exchange for watching a one minute video you usually have the option to skip over after like after five seconds. Man, it sure is rough living in the digital internet age.

[Drakeburn]

Well, they didn't have that when it all started. Yeah, I'm grateful for that skip button they provide us.

Although this is Sort Of a commercial, I couldn't help but to show it to everyone.

This is extremely hilarious.

[Somewhere]

I don't recall seeing any commercials on YouTube. Although, I use keepvid's site to grab the .flv file and use a standalone flv player to watch them.
Are these commercials part of the video, or is YouTube's pages set up such that they run the commercial file first, then whatever flv you wanted in the first place?

[KillianHawkeye]

Are these commercials part of the video, or is YouTube's pages set up such that they run the commercial file first, then whatever flv you wanted in the first place?

They're separate vids that in most cases have nothing to do with the vid you're trying to watch.

[razark]

Is it just me, or do we seem to watch more commercials than television shows and movies combined?

I tend to watch more commercials than shows on TV. But that's because there are multiple commercial breaks during a show, and each break has multiple commercials. However, the total length of commercials is less than the actual length of the show.

For example, let's say a thirty minute show, with three breaks, each showing 5 thirty second commercials. I watch 1 show, and fifteen commercials. However, I watch 7.5 minutes of commercials, and 22.5 minutes of show content.

In one view, I've watched more commercials than shows, but in another, I've watched more show than commercial. It all depends on how you're defining "more".

[invinible]

I wish they wouldn't have more than 4 minutes of commercials between shows and no more than a minute of commercials per 30 minute show time slot during the show unless it is a show about commercials since most of them aren't even worth being considered.

[Yora]

Well, they didn't have that when it all started. Yeah, I'm grateful for that skip button they provide us.

Before google bought youtube, I once went on to research how youtube made any profit or at least was able to pay for server costs. Turned out they didn't. They had no income at all and were making a loss of a million dollar every month, which they paid with money loaned by investors. Then google payed the investors one and half billion dollar so they all went away with more money than they had poured into it.
And then google had to find a way to make money with the site, which was relatively easy as everybody already knew about the site and was using it a lot. Stick some ads to it and watch the money come pouring in. But that all wasn't a problem of the guys who started the site.

I learned of commercials on youtube only much later. I got adblock plus not to block advertisement, but to regain the ability to visit sites that use animated flash banners or even ones that use sound.
For websites that form the income for the artist I watch, I set it on disabled, if it doesn't slow my browser to a crawl.

[Helanna]

I generally only watch TV on the internet, and I have no problems watching a couple minutes of commercials there.

No, my problem came a couple days ago while driving home. It was the first real snowfall around here and I decided to put on the radio and listen to some Christmas songs in celebration.

After ten minutes of switching constantly between 5 stations, I'd heard exactly one song. I gave up and went back to listening to my mp3 player.

[Eldan]

I tend to watch more commercials than shows on TV. But that's because there are multiple commercial breaks during a show, and each break has multiple commercials. However, the total length of commercials is less than the actual length of the show.

For example, let's say a thirty minute show, with three breaks, each showing 5 thirty second commercials. I watch 1 show, and fifteen commercials. However, I watch 7.5 minutes of commercials, and 22.5 minutes of show content.

In one view, I've watched more commercials than shows, but in another, I've watched more show than commercial. It all depends on how you're defining "more".

Holy crap. You have ad breaks during 25 minute shows? Either things got really a lot worse since I last had a TV, or the states are quite a bit worse than over here.

[GnomeGninjas]

Holy crap. You have ad breaks during 25 minute shows? Either things got really a lot worse since I last had a TV, or the states are quite a bit worse than over here.

Probably both.

[Zevox]

Holy crap. You have ad breaks during 25 minute shows? Either things got really a lot worse since I last had a TV, or the states are quite a bit worse than over here.

Standard in the US is that shows are arranged in half-hour blocks, and about 22-23 minutes of that is the actual show, while the rest is commercials. Broken up into one or two segments during the show, and one in between the end of the show and the beginning of the next. That's been the norm for as long as I can remember.

Zevox

[pita]

Also gotten to be like that in Israel, which 10 years ago hadn't heard of the concept of "commercial break".
What's worse is that online streaming here has commercial breaks. That kills me more than anything else. There is simply no way to avoid them any more.

[Winter_Wolf]

Is it just me, or do we seem to watch more commercials than television shows and movies combined?

And commercials weren't a problem for me (since I very rarely watch television) until some moron thought it was a good idea to have commercials on Youtube videos (on the bright side, watching youtube is free. Almost........)

But above all the commercials shoved in my face, this commercial is my favorite one, and probably still is.

I didn't watch much of that commercial, but I did click it to see if Youtube would put a commercial in before they let me watch that clip.

They did not. This time.

I put up with commercials, but I really really really wish the commercials would at least have something to do with the shows they're interrupting. The specialty networks are usually better about it than the networks.

If Hulu gives the option to watch a longer five minute commercial then no interruptions during the actual show, I always choose it. Then I go do something else for five minutes. I haven't seen that option in a while, so I suspect they did away with it because everyone was doing what I was doing.

I do agree with above poster that radio stations are significantly worse than tv stations for commercials. I've managed to to through all my presets three or four times before any of them even had music, and usually it's the last 15-20 seconds of a song. I usuall drive with my car radio turned off these days. It's an older car so no AUX for mp3 player, not even a CD player, and who has cassette tapes anymore?

By the way, do not attempt a long drive through the middle of nowhere without music or a companion to talk to. After about 20 hours on the Alaska-Canada highway I was talking to myself in gibberish and strange pitched voices, presumably to keep myself sane.

[Gnoman]

I have little problem with commercials, but what I can't stand is the fake drama so many shows build around the commercial breaks. Hell's Kitchen is a particularly nasty offender in this regard.

[GoddessSune]

I hate commercials!

I know they need to sell stuff and make money..blah, blah, blah...but they often ruin the show. This is true for lots of drama type shows. The story gets going and then, suddenly, you have some dumb talking baby saying you should buy stocks or something equally useless.

Most commercials are just so bad....like all the horrible ones for pills ''oh take these pill and it will cure all'' but ''oh may cause side effects like...''.

Or car commercials! How is it legal that they can say ''no money down'' and other lies, but they only flash the huge wall of important lawyer text for like two seconds. It's impossible to read all that in a short time. So if the law says they must show it, why does not the law also say ''must remain on the screen for a long, long time.''

It's worse on the cable channels too....they only have like 10-20 commercials, so watch them for an hour or two and you will see the same ones over and over again.

And internet commercials....they are so annoying! I hate the You Tube ones. And if they are 'so important' then why can you skip them?

Oh, and hate the commercials in Words With Friends too...