7 ms·

Commercials make us like TV more (2010)

Lev1a 4y ago
> Just because we end up enjoying something more when it has commercials doesn’t mean we expect to enjoy it more that way. DVRs appeal to us because prior to our viewing experience, we think we want no ads. It’s only after we have the experience that we realize it’s more enjoyable when it’s interrupted. ----- Basically: "You think you don't like ads but we know you actually do like them deep-down." > Jail is incomprehensibly horrible the first day. Eventually, it’s less awful. > But if you let that prisoner out for a day… > That’d be practically cruel. You’d stop the adaptation and retrigger those initial feelings about jail when they had to go back. Yikes! "Don't mind being in jail for long, you'll get used to it." ----- To me the only good point of this article is the last question by the interviewer: > What are you doing next? Trying to prove we actually love the dentist? ----- What was the meme'd phrase again from one of the press conferences years ago? Something like "you think you do but you don't"?
- scrollaway 4y ago
  I have met a lot of Ukrainian war refugees the past few months. What they all have in common is the adaptation to how bad things are in Ukraine, and when coming to safer countries, their mind readjusts and they realise what kind of fucked up shit they got used to and how unnatural it all was. Things such as “Don’t mind the explosions, it’s not my city block”, etc.
  - mynameishere 4y ago
    - profile53 4y ago
      The subtext on this comment is rather hostile. Refugees anywhere likely want to leave because of the current situation, not because they always hated/disliked/whatever their country.
    - xmonkee 4y ago
      Did you leave your country and community because they were bombing your block? Nah, bro, I just love McDonalds.
    - hedora 4y ago
      Victim blaming is inappropriate. The refugees I know (none from Ukraine, though they were all victims of Russia-supported regimes) all liked their homes before they became war zones. They experienced starvation-related long-term health issues, having loved ones arrested, tortured and worse, being hunted for sport, etc... Whatever beefs they had with their local neighborhood prior to that didn't really enter into their decisions to leave.
      - mynameishere 4y ago
    - scrollaway 4y ago
      The people I've met, with zero exceptions, miss their home and want to go back. One of them had just finished buying and decorating hers when the war broke out. Another I met yesterday didn't even leave until a week ago, because of all the chatter about the upcoming danger with Independence Day on August 24 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_of_Ukraine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_of_Ukraine). Who is your comment directed to, anyway? You're saying "just so you know", as if of the two of us, you met with more UA refugees than I have -- you clearly haven't talked to a single one. You're wrong, prejudiced, and frankly a little disgusting. Sorry, did I say a little? Hm.
- icehawk 4y ago
  > What was the meme'd phrase again from one of the press conferences years ago? Something like "you think you do but you don't"? Yeah it was a Q&A session and the topic of adding servers to play original World of Warcraft. The full thing was "You don't want to do that. You think you do, but you don't." To to tell you how correct they were about this, Blizzard later added "World of Warcraft: Classic", which was popular enough to add "Burning Crusade Classic" severs, and will be adding "Wrath of The Lich King Classic."
  - nullhack 4y ago
    Can't wait for WoW Classic 2: ReClassed once WoW Classic gets old
- Fnoord 4y ago
  > > Just because we end up enjoying something more when it has commercials doesn’t mean we expect to enjoy it more that way. DVRs appeal to us because prior to our viewing experience, we think we want no ads. It’s only after we have the experience that we realize it’s more enjoyable when it’s interrupted. To me, this appears to be rose tinted glasses. We can pause 'TV' now, and do stuff in between like dishes or toilet. But we don't have to. No more forced commercials. Both are features I enjoyed in past with this technology called VHS. One thing I miss is certain jokes at school/work based on TV commercials. But that too is likely those glasses being rose-tinted. Cause nowadays we got memes. Many memes, handle it. I thoroughly enjoy the ability to have a video on my smartphone on the toilet, in bed or music or a podcast with my smartphone while doing chores/errands or either during commute. And the quality and availability and price of the streaming services is good enough right now (if it isn't I go back to piracy). Same with ebooks (though I use a Kobo; not Amazon).
  - WalterBright 4y ago
    > One thing I miss is certain jokes at school/work based on TV commercials. One commercial I remember was for shampoo for women. The girl who tries it gets a "hello Betty!" from the high school hunk, and she preens. For a while every Betty in my high school got that treatment :-/ I suppose the commercial didn't actually work, because I have no recollection of what that shampoo was.
    - Fnoord 4y ago
      We (in NL) had a similar one with a girl on bicycle. "Pam, your hair is dancing" I guess it was Andrelon. Regardless the commercial does not give me a positive connotation to the brand, since commercials don't appear to influence me like that. Perhaps because I am on the spectrum?
    - zdw 4y ago
      Early 90's "Zack the Lego Maniac" ads were fun when you shared a name...
    - lupire 4y ago
      You weren't the target audience.
- krsrhe 4y ago
- reaperducer 4y ago
  we think we want no ads. It’s only after we have the experience that we realize it’s more enjoyable when it’s interrupted. In the 90's, I had a Panasonic VCR that could detect superblack and use those markers to automatically skip commercials on playback. After several months of using it, I found myself not understanding a lot of general cultural references that my coworkers would make around the office. It became increasingly hard to socialize with them between tasks because I was left out of a lot of what the rest of society knew about. It's how I learned that commercials were a big part of our shared culture back then. i assume it's sort of like being the only kid in high school without Netflix today.
  - easrng 4y ago
    *without Netflix or knowing how to pirate things
ARussell 4y ago
I refused to ever subscribe to cable television because of commercials, and I suspect I am not the only one. I never subscribed to Hulu, either, for the same reason (if they have an ad-free offering now, I've missed it because I stopped paying attention to them). I also will not use Netflix's ad-driven tier when it comes out.
- undersuit 4y ago
  I never paid for Hulu+ because the content I wanted had ads and the ads on Hulu are horrible. At least on broadcast and cable TV there's a mechanism to prevent the ads from getting stuck playing in a loop.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- cshokie 4y ago
  Hulu has an ad-free tier. We had to move to it because our kids have not experienced commercials and would get upset every time some came on. They just didn’t understand interruptions to what they were watching.
  - bcrosby95 4y ago
    At my mom's house I had fun trying to explain to my 4 year old that we couldn't pause the TV, and that even if we turned it off the show would keep going.
  - jjulius 4y ago
    I should clarify that Hulu's "ad-free" tier isn't entirely ad-free. Certain programs may actually have an ad play before them, though usually I've only noticed this when, for example, Hulu has a deal with an existing channel to stream a show as soon as it airs on cable TV. Annoys the hell out of me that they continue to call it "Hulu (No Ads)". It really shows the level of respect they have for their customers. https://help.hulu.com/s/article/ads-no-commercials https://help.hulu.com/s/article/ads-no-commercials
winternett 4y ago
GOOD commercials help to make us not mind watching TV because they can potentially create mental breaks at times, or inform us about things we're interested in... Heck, even TikTok is one big scroller for commercials of some sort, they just let the ones that aren't selling products at all trend most. In the 80s and 90s there were actually awards for creative and well composed commercials that were interesting to watch. Now we have commercials that stoke fears of chronic illness, overly-extended commercials, and nonsensical commercials that try to sell us too many things we don't want or need. Commercials are targeted at us in very creepy ways as well. Companies now are regularly ruining their credibility just to make one sale in commercials, and it's also not sustainable... Many companies run huge/expensive marketing campaigns and then quickly burn out after initial hype (For reference, look up "pink sauce" on TikTok). A big part of the problem in cheap advertising is that when it is available everywhere, it becomes inauthentic, low effort, and over-saturated... And the products and services are weakened by more emphasis on marketing than on quality and reputation. Commercials are killing everything now because they are all over the place. When we saw Blade Runner years ago, it was a dystopian ideal, but now companies would put big screens playing ads for lawyers, doctors, and even pharmaceuticals on ambulances if they could. It's spam. Ad spots are also even subtly being placed in content and shows on TV, it all has the psychological effect of alienation towards ads when it is overdone to where there will likely be a movement to reject technology and entertainment if the oversaturation continues. Commercials now are also far too repetitive and there are too many with each break. Back in the 80s, I recall a long stretch of time where there were only 3 max per commercial break. The price of ad space was higher, and only major companies sponsored ads. The bar is so low now that scammers and even influencers can buy ad space, and it creates far too much overload. Probably the worst part is that if you pay money for cable TV, you're also spending tons of time watching ads. It's like buying a device that 50% of the time does not do what you expected it to do, and that constantly tries to encourage you and manipulate you mentally to spend more money. Because the cost of living is high now, people are beginning to reject ads and desire more calm. If TVs and the Internet become spam machines, people will simply stop buying them and turn them off because there is a limit to how many ads people can tolerate, and companies really aren't properly respecting that.
- krsrhe 4y ago
havblue 4y ago
Most shows were filmed specifically to benefit from commercials at the time. You wonder what's going to happen after each cliffhanger. That's part of the fun. So if it's a show that wasn't filmed with that intent, like when they edited and spliced sex and the city for tbs, I'd imagine that users weren't as engaged. The title might as well be, "shows that are written specifically to have commercials are more entertaining when the commercials are kept in".
- faeriechangling 4y ago
  Not only were the interruptions inside the episode important, the interruptions BETWEEN episodes was important. When these series are rewatched in marathon format, they just seem to have tons of cheesy unsatisfying twists, because there isn't the suspense of having to wait to see what happens. I agree that this observation doesn't nessecarily hold for modern media which was designed to be marathoned from the outset ad-free. Commercial Breaks now seem like much more of an afterthought instead of something actually woven into the scriptwriting, which only make commercials more offensive.
  - _aavaa_ 4y ago
    Can’t wait till we look back and see the same thing for current shows and movies and then being designed for memeing and sharing on social media.
  - Falkon1313 4y ago
    I don't like marathoning shows even if they were designed for it. It's too easy to find a new show you like, watch the entire thing, and then just feel a sense of loss and forget about it. Especially with 'seasons' now being only 6-10 episodes instead of 22. I'd much rather watch one episode per night (or week) and have something to look forward to and enjoy for awhile. Plus it's nice to have variety - an episode of this show, an episode of that one.
- InCityDreams 4y ago
  >The title might as well be, "shows that are written specifically to have commercials are more entertaining when the commercials are kept in". Yes, but... I enjoy certain youtube content, oftentimes it'll be ripped tv shows. Nothing more annoying (but thank you, rippers) than the cut adverts being so obviously cut, in that there's a 15min intro, a build up, and then a ridiculous summary of 'the predicament' (which would have been after the ads) and bujld up. Did we really forget everything when adverts were shown? US shows are worse, probably because they showe more adverts?
chmod775 4y ago
I have an extremely averse reaction when I feel like I'm being manipulated. There's not much I dislike more than that. When twitch gets past my ad blocker, I reflexively close the tab. And those are only a few seconds. For the same reason I would be unable to watch a TV channel that has ads. The article seems suspect to me. Possibly because I can't relate at all.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- frankthedog 4y ago
  Agreed. This doesn’t pass the sniff test. Millions of people pay money for an otherwise free YouTube in order to not see ads, myself included.
  - eternityforest 4y ago
    Millions of people pay for lots of stuff that they don't particularly enjoy all that much, just out of habit. And lots of people talk about how TV was better in the past.
  - bestnameever 4y ago
    In my experience, ads on youtube are very different than an ad break during a traditional broadcast television show.
beebeepka 4y ago
Clickbaity but it's not as thrashy as I expected. Yes, people do enjoy pauses for bodily functions and whatnot. Great science
- amelius 4y ago
  > Great science Yes, a better approach would be to give a panel of test-subjects the ability to skip commercials and see how often they would use this feature.
mac-chaffee 4y ago
I think this is the paper they're talking about: https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article/36/2/160/1942726 https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article/36/2/160/1942726 Interestingly, they did control for the effects of TV that was edited with commercials in mind (cliffhangers, etc.) in "Study 2", where participants watched a 4-minute animation with and without interruptions.
tryfinally 4y ago
On a similar note, I recall reading somewhere on the Unity blog that adding ads to a game supposedly boosts retention. I personally refuse to believe that the average mobile player's brain really is that rotten.
fumeux_fume 4y ago
Lol, nice try assholes. But in all honesty, if you're the kind person that yucks it up to Big Bang Theory, then I'm sure you're gonna love this new Aflac commercial.
bitwize 4y ago
Commercials don't make TV better. In the USA they're like death and taxes: something you may not like, but acknowledge and respect because it's inevitable (except for not watching TV at all). So in that light, one can enjoy the more entertaining commercials. Some companies, such as GEICO and formerly Bob's Discount Furniture (when the real Bob was still involved), make a point of making memorable commercials, but television would be better off without even these. The 80s and 90s also seemed to have many more fun and beautiful advertisements compared to today. People from Western Europe (I know the UK and France, I'm not so sure about elsewhere) tend to remark on the pervasiveness and obnoxiousness of commercials on American private, ad-sponsored television. I wish we had had more government sponsorship and regulation of television here the way they did in the UK and France.
cafard 4y ago
I think that Marshall McLuhan said that the ads are always better. Of course that doesn't mean that we like them more.
bell-cot 4y ago
Statistically, their results might be correct. OTOH, potential TV viewers are not a homogeneous group, and the results might be quite different for various sub-groups. I'm generally turned off by TV, and try to avoid it. I have a few friends who live alone, and let the TV run all day, to make it feel as if they have other people around. (Maybe I should ask them whether they pay any attention to the programs and/or commercials...)
SturgeonsLaw 4y ago
> Is adaptation a universal effect? Should our office meetings have “commercial interruptions”? Meetings are the interruptions lol, they make me appreciate real work all the more
akrakesh 4y ago
Gist: The authors think, without interruptions, we get adapted to the pleasures of a show; it becomes less pleasurable as we get used to it. Interruptions re-trigger the initial enjoyment. So, commercials (interruptions) make us like TV more. Thoughts: Clickbait title. A better title would be: 'Interruptions make us like a TV show more'. Note: The authors are "working with a large TV network, which is replicating the study in its market research".
dredmorbius 4y ago
Research seems seriously sus. I will go to extreme lengths to avoid commercials in any medium. They're a principle reason for my watching no television at all. Even sponsorship spots and various nags on noncommercial radio broadcasts will prompt me to change the station or put on a recording instead. I note that in listening to podcasts, I have an exceptionally strong preference for those without any advertising at all, with fixed pre- or post-roll spots (which I can skip automatically), or with specific timed slots with intro/outro audio cues (which I can skip manually). The worst are programmes where the ads appear frequently (several times per episode) and/or without notice. Ironically, it's several public-radio podcasts which seem to be among the worst offenders in this spot. And on the Web I ad-block aggressively as well as remove distracting features from websites ranging from registration requests to interstitial recommendation to "link-litter" social icons. I've a possible control experiment though for the suggestion that breaks or pauses might aid in enjoyment or appreciation of a piece. I've listened to public broadcasting over several decades in multiple markets, some large/primary, some not. In primary markets, the various station breaks in programming tend to be filled with sponsorship slots, promos for other programming, and the like. In smaller markets ... not so much, and often interstitial music plays between segments (as part of the primary programme). I've noticed that where or when I'd had access to stations which did this, the news was less harrying to me, overall. Every ten minutes or so there'd be a small interlude, and I could reflect on what I'd just heard or attend to something else. Where programme follows spot follows programme, it's simply a constant sensory assault. I do miss those breaks.

> Just because we end up enjoying something more when it has commercials doesn’t mean we expect to enjoy it more that way. DVRs appeal to us because prior to our viewing experience, we think we want no ads. It’s only after we have the experience that we realize it’s more enjoyable when it’s interrupted. ----- Basically: "You think you don't like ads but we know you actually do like them deep-down." > Jail is incomprehensibly horrible the first day. Eventually, it’s less awful. > But if you let that prisoner out for a day… > That’d be practically cruel. You’d stop the adaptation and retrigger those initial feelings about jail when they had to go back. Yikes! "Don't mind being in jail for long, you'll get used to it." ----- To me the only good point of this article is the last question by the interviewer: > What are you doing next? Trying to prove we actually love the dentist? ----- What was the meme'd phrase again from one of the press conferences years ago? Something like "you think you do but you don't"?

scrollaway 4y ago
I have met a lot of Ukrainian war refugees the past few months. What they all have in common is the adaptation to how bad things are in Ukraine, and when coming to safer countries, their mind readjusts and they realise what kind of fucked up shit they got used to and how unnatural it all was. Things such as “Don’t mind the explosions, it’s not my city block”, etc.
- mynameishere 4y ago
  - profile53 4y ago
    The subtext on this comment is rather hostile. Refugees anywhere likely want to leave because of the current situation, not because they always hated/disliked/whatever their country.
  - xmonkee 4y ago
    Did you leave your country and community because they were bombing your block? Nah, bro, I just love McDonalds.
  - hedora 4y ago
    Victim blaming is inappropriate. The refugees I know (none from Ukraine, though they were all victims of Russia-supported regimes) all liked their homes before they became war zones. They experienced starvation-related long-term health issues, having loved ones arrested, tortured and worse, being hunted for sport, etc... Whatever beefs they had with their local neighborhood prior to that didn't really enter into their decisions to leave.
    - mynameishere 4y ago
  - scrollaway 4y ago
    The people I've met, with zero exceptions, miss their home and want to go back. One of them had just finished buying and decorating hers when the war broke out. Another I met yesterday didn't even leave until a week ago, because of all the chatter about the upcoming danger with Independence Day on August 24 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_of_Ukraine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_of_Ukraine). Who is your comment directed to, anyway? You're saying "just so you know", as if of the two of us, you met with more UA refugees than I have -- you clearly haven't talked to a single one. You're wrong, prejudiced, and frankly a little disgusting. Sorry, did I say a little? Hm.
icehawk 4y ago
> What was the meme'd phrase again from one of the press conferences years ago? Something like "you think you do but you don't"? Yeah it was a Q&A session and the topic of adding servers to play original World of Warcraft. The full thing was "You don't want to do that. You think you do, but you don't." To to tell you how correct they were about this, Blizzard later added "World of Warcraft: Classic", which was popular enough to add "Burning Crusade Classic" severs, and will be adding "Wrath of The Lich King Classic."
- nullhack 4y ago
  Can't wait for WoW Classic 2: ReClassed once WoW Classic gets old
Fnoord 4y ago
> > Just because we end up enjoying something more when it has commercials doesn’t mean we expect to enjoy it more that way. DVRs appeal to us because prior to our viewing experience, we think we want no ads. It’s only after we have the experience that we realize it’s more enjoyable when it’s interrupted. To me, this appears to be rose tinted glasses. We can pause 'TV' now, and do stuff in between like dishes or toilet. But we don't have to. No more forced commercials. Both are features I enjoyed in past with this technology called VHS. One thing I miss is certain jokes at school/work based on TV commercials. But that too is likely those glasses being rose-tinted. Cause nowadays we got memes. Many memes, handle it. I thoroughly enjoy the ability to have a video on my smartphone on the toilet, in bed or music or a podcast with my smartphone while doing chores/errands or either during commute. And the quality and availability and price of the streaming services is good enough right now (if it isn't I go back to piracy). Same with ebooks (though I use a Kobo; not Amazon).
- WalterBright 4y ago
  > One thing I miss is certain jokes at school/work based on TV commercials. One commercial I remember was for shampoo for women. The girl who tries it gets a "hello Betty!" from the high school hunk, and she preens. For a while every Betty in my high school got that treatment :-/ I suppose the commercial didn't actually work, because I have no recollection of what that shampoo was.
  - Fnoord 4y ago
    We (in NL) had a similar one with a girl on bicycle. "Pam, your hair is dancing" I guess it was Andrelon. Regardless the commercial does not give me a positive connotation to the brand, since commercials don't appear to influence me like that. Perhaps because I am on the spectrum?
  - zdw 4y ago
    Early 90's "Zack the Lego Maniac" ads were fun when you shared a name...
  - lupire 4y ago
    You weren't the target audience.
krsrhe 4y ago
reaperducer 4y ago
we think we want no ads. It’s only after we have the experience that we realize it’s more enjoyable when it’s interrupted. In the 90's, I had a Panasonic VCR that could detect superblack and use those markers to automatically skip commercials on playback. After several months of using it, I found myself not understanding a lot of general cultural references that my coworkers would make around the office. It became increasingly hard to socialize with them between tasks because I was left out of a lot of what the rest of society knew about. It's how I learned that commercials were a big part of our shared culture back then. i assume it's sort of like being the only kid in high school without Netflix today.
- easrng 4y ago
  *without Netflix or knowing how to pirate things

ARussell 4y ago

I refused to ever subscribe to cable television because of commercials, and I suspect I am not the only one. I never subscribed to Hulu, either, for the same reason (if they have an ad-free offering now, I've missed it because I stopped paying attention to them). I also will not use Netflix's ad-driven tier when it comes out.

undersuit 4y ago
I never paid for Hulu+ because the content I wanted had ads and the ads on Hulu are horrible. At least on broadcast and cable TV there's a mechanism to prevent the ads from getting stuck playing in a loop.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
cshokie 4y ago
Hulu has an ad-free tier. We had to move to it because our kids have not experienced commercials and would get upset every time some came on. They just didn’t understand interruptions to what they were watching.
- bcrosby95 4y ago
  At my mom's house I had fun trying to explain to my 4 year old that we couldn't pause the TV, and that even if we turned it off the show would keep going.
- jjulius 4y ago
  I should clarify that Hulu's "ad-free" tier isn't entirely ad-free. Certain programs may actually have an ad play before them, though usually I've only noticed this when, for example, Hulu has a deal with an existing channel to stream a show as soon as it airs on cable TV. Annoys the hell out of me that they continue to call it "Hulu (No Ads)". It really shows the level of respect they have for their customers. https://help.hulu.com/s/article/ads-no-commercials https://help.hulu.com/s/article/ads-no-commercials

winternett 4y ago

GOOD commercials help to make us not mind watching TV because they can potentially create mental breaks at times, or inform us about things we're interested in... Heck, even TikTok is one big scroller for commercials of some sort, they just let the ones that aren't selling products at all trend most. In the 80s and 90s there were actually awards for creative and well composed commercials that were interesting to watch. Now we have commercials that stoke fears of chronic illness, overly-extended commercials, and nonsensical commercials that try to sell us too many things we don't want or need. Commercials are targeted at us in very creepy ways as well. Companies now are regularly ruining their credibility just to make one sale in commercials, and it's also not sustainable... Many companies run huge/expensive marketing campaigns and then quickly burn out after initial hype (For reference, look up "pink sauce" on TikTok). A big part of the problem in cheap advertising is that when it is available everywhere, it becomes inauthentic, low effort, and over-saturated... And the products and services are weakened by more emphasis on marketing than on quality and reputation. Commercials are killing everything now because they are all over the place. When we saw Blade Runner years ago, it was a dystopian ideal, but now companies would put big screens playing ads for lawyers, doctors, and even pharmaceuticals on ambulances if they could. It's spam. Ad spots are also even subtly being placed in content and shows on TV, it all has the psychological effect of alienation towards ads when it is overdone to where there will likely be a movement to reject technology and entertainment if the oversaturation continues. Commercials now are also far too repetitive and there are too many with each break. Back in the 80s, I recall a long stretch of time where there were only 3 max per commercial break. The price of ad space was higher, and only major companies sponsored ads. The bar is so low now that scammers and even influencers can buy ad space, and it creates far too much overload. Probably the worst part is that if you pay money for cable TV, you're also spending tons of time watching ads. It's like buying a device that 50% of the time does not do what you expected it to do, and that constantly tries to encourage you and manipulate you mentally to spend more money. Because the cost of living is high now, people are beginning to reject ads and desire more calm. If TVs and the Internet become spam machines, people will simply stop buying them and turn them off because there is a limit to how many ads people can tolerate, and companies really aren't properly respecting that.

krsrhe 4y ago

havblue 4y ago

Most shows were filmed specifically to benefit from commercials at the time. You wonder what's going to happen after each cliffhanger. That's part of the fun. So if it's a show that wasn't filmed with that intent, like when they edited and spliced sex and the city for tbs, I'd imagine that users weren't as engaged. The title might as well be, "shows that are written specifically to have commercials are more entertaining when the commercials are kept in".

faeriechangling 4y ago
Not only were the interruptions inside the episode important, the interruptions BETWEEN episodes was important. When these series are rewatched in marathon format, they just seem to have tons of cheesy unsatisfying twists, because there isn't the suspense of having to wait to see what happens. I agree that this observation doesn't nessecarily hold for modern media which was designed to be marathoned from the outset ad-free. Commercial Breaks now seem like much more of an afterthought instead of something actually woven into the scriptwriting, which only make commercials more offensive.
- _aavaa_ 4y ago
  Can’t wait till we look back and see the same thing for current shows and movies and then being designed for memeing and sharing on social media.
- Falkon1313 4y ago
  I don't like marathoning shows even if they were designed for it. It's too easy to find a new show you like, watch the entire thing, and then just feel a sense of loss and forget about it. Especially with 'seasons' now being only 6-10 episodes instead of 22. I'd much rather watch one episode per night (or week) and have something to look forward to and enjoy for awhile. Plus it's nice to have variety - an episode of this show, an episode of that one.
InCityDreams 4y ago
>The title might as well be, "shows that are written specifically to have commercials are more entertaining when the commercials are kept in". Yes, but... I enjoy certain youtube content, oftentimes it'll be ripped tv shows. Nothing more annoying (but thank you, rippers) than the cut adverts being so obviously cut, in that there's a 15min intro, a build up, and then a ridiculous summary of 'the predicament' (which would have been after the ads) and bujld up. Did we really forget everything when adverts were shown? US shows are worse, probably because they showe more adverts?

chmod775 4y ago

I have an extremely averse reaction when I feel like I'm being manipulated. There's not much I dislike more than that. When twitch gets past my ad blocker, I reflexively close the tab. And those are only a few seconds. For the same reason I would be unable to watch a TV channel that has ads. The article seems suspect to me. Possibly because I can't relate at all.

deleted 4y ago
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deleted 4y ago
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frankthedog 4y ago
Agreed. This doesn’t pass the sniff test. Millions of people pay money for an otherwise free YouTube in order to not see ads, myself included.
- eternityforest 4y ago
  Millions of people pay for lots of stuff that they don't particularly enjoy all that much, just out of habit. And lots of people talk about how TV was better in the past.
- bestnameever 4y ago
  In my experience, ads on youtube are very different than an ad break during a traditional broadcast television show.

beebeepka 4y ago

Clickbaity but it's not as thrashy as I expected. Yes, people do enjoy pauses for bodily functions and whatnot. Great science

amelius 4y ago
> Great science Yes, a better approach would be to give a panel of test-subjects the ability to skip commercials and see how often they would use this feature.

mac-chaffee 4y ago

I think this is the paper they're talking about: https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article/36/2/160/1942726 https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article/36/2/160/1942726 Interestingly, they did control for the effects of TV that was edited with commercials in mind (cliffhangers, etc.) in "Study 2", where participants watched a 4-minute animation with and without interruptions.

tryfinally 4y ago

On a similar note, I recall reading somewhere on the Unity blog that adding ads to a game supposedly boosts retention. I personally refuse to believe that the average mobile player's brain really is that rotten.

fumeux_fume 4y ago

Lol, nice try assholes. But in all honesty, if you're the kind person that yucks it up to Big Bang Theory, then I'm sure you're gonna love this new Aflac commercial.

bitwize 4y ago

Commercials don't make TV better. In the USA they're like death and taxes: something you may not like, but acknowledge and respect because it's inevitable (except for not watching TV at all). So in that light, one can enjoy the more entertaining commercials. Some companies, such as GEICO and formerly Bob's Discount Furniture (when the real Bob was still involved), make a point of making memorable commercials, but television would be better off without even these. The 80s and 90s also seemed to have many more fun and beautiful advertisements compared to today. People from Western Europe (I know the UK and France, I'm not so sure about elsewhere) tend to remark on the pervasiveness and obnoxiousness of commercials on American private, ad-sponsored television. I wish we had had more government sponsorship and regulation of television here the way they did in the UK and France.

cafard 4y ago

I think that Marshall McLuhan said that the ads are always better. Of course that doesn't mean that we like them more.

bell-cot 4y ago

Statistically, their results might be correct. OTOH, potential TV viewers are not a homogeneous group, and the results might be quite different for various sub-groups. I'm generally turned off by TV, and try to avoid it. I have a few friends who live alone, and let the TV run all day, to make it feel as if they have other people around. (Maybe I should ask them whether they pay any attention to the programs and/or commercials...)

SturgeonsLaw 4y ago

> Is adaptation a universal effect? Should our office meetings have “commercial interruptions”? Meetings are the interruptions lol, they make me appreciate real work all the more

akrakesh 4y ago

Gist: The authors think, without interruptions, we get adapted to the pleasures of a show; it becomes less pleasurable as we get used to it. Interruptions re-trigger the initial enjoyment. So, commercials (interruptions) make us like TV more. Thoughts: Clickbait title. A better title would be: 'Interruptions make us like a TV show more'. Note: The authors are "working with a large TV network, which is replicating the study in its market research".

dredmorbius 4y ago

Research seems seriously sus. I will go to extreme lengths to avoid commercials in any medium. They're a principle reason for my watching no television at all. Even sponsorship spots and various nags on noncommercial radio broadcasts will prompt me to change the station or put on a recording instead. I note that in listening to podcasts, I have an exceptionally strong preference for those without any advertising at all, with fixed pre- or post-roll spots (which I can skip automatically), or with specific timed slots with intro/outro audio cues (which I can skip manually). The worst are programmes where the ads appear frequently (several times per episode) and/or without notice. Ironically, it's several public-radio podcasts which seem to be among the worst offenders in this spot. And on the Web I ad-block aggressively as well as remove distracting features from websites ranging from registration requests to interstitial recommendation to "link-litter" social icons. I've a possible control experiment though for the suggestion that breaks or pauses might aid in enjoyment or appreciation of a piece. I've listened to public broadcasting over several decades in multiple markets, some large/primary, some not. In primary markets, the various station breaks in programming tend to be filled with sponsorship slots, promos for other programming, and the like. In smaller markets ... not so much, and often interstitial music plays between segments (as part of the primary programme). I've noticed that where or when I'd had access to stations which did this, the news was less harrying to me, overall. Every ten minutes or so there'd be a small interlude, and I could reflect on what I'd just heard or attend to something else. Where programme follows spot follows programme, it's simply a constant sensory assault. I do miss those breaks.