By Lisa Fary
You know what would have made Carnivale, True Blood and The Wire more enjoyable? Commercials.
Or, so says this “study” (and I use the term “study” loosely, hence the quotation marks) at the NYU Stern School of Business. Viewers said they preferred avoiding commercials, but felt they had a better overall experience when commercials were included.
The “study” says:
“People often adapt to the experience of watching television such that each successive minute is slightly less enjoyable than the previous one. Advertisements, although independently aversive, disrupt this adaptation process and can therefore make the overall experience more enjoyable.
A disruption in a suspenseful plotline might heighten anticipation and intensify its subsequent resolution. Commercials may offer opportunities to elaborate on what viewers have watched so far or to savor what is still to come.”
Hmmm. I call shenanigans.
Whether it’s the funding for the research or the methods, either way, I call shenanigans.
Who are these people? There are those who enjoy viewing critically and those who want to stop thinking for a while. Which participated in the study? It matters.
What are they watching? Are they watching Deal or No Deal (AKA, The Magic Suitcase Hour)? Are they watching According to Jim (AKA, Another Annoying Suburban Family)? Are they watching the local news (AKA, One Day Fox News will Discover Me!)?
To be more specific, are they watching good television?
If watching another creepy Cealis ad makes viewing more enjoyable, you’re not caught up in quality programming. If you think, “Now that would be a good place for a commercial,” you’re not in the middle of good programming. A good program should be able to build it’s own anticipation without relying on teasing the viewers with erectile dysfunction medication ads.
How do they watch television? I’m surgical in my viewing: there are a few shows that interest me every week, an occasional movie On Demand, and that’s it. I don’t channel surf looking for a program that might be interesting or settle on a program just because it’s there. I don’t have the attention span for boring shite unless I’m making fun of it.
However, in a world where America’s Funniest Home Videos is in its 19th season, maybe I shouldn’t be too surprised by this.
I’ll still be annoyed.
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Lisa Fary’s early exposure to classic Battlestar Galactica in 1979 is largely responsible for her lifelong interest in science fiction and her childhood ambition of being an intergalactic space cowgirl. She thinks diagramming sentences is a fun alternative to Sudoku.
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Lisa Fary's earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She's angry that it's 2011 and she still doesn't have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram. 
How exactly, then, do they account for the massive market for shows that were initially on commercial TV being released on DVD without ad breaks? Given the choice between watching a show I enjoy in syndication or on DVD is really no contest.
And then there are people like my friends and me who deliberately let the DVR get a 15-20 minute head start so that we can fast-forward through the commercials (and usually finish at about the same time as the live broadcast, I might add). I can tolerate the one-commercial mini-breaks on Hulu, Fancast, etc. because it's a free service and too many shows I like are pitted against each other in the broadcast schedule. (Seriously, why is everything on at 8 o'clock on Monday?!)
“People often adapt to the experience of watching television such that each successive minute is slightly less enjoyable than the previous one."
Only when I'm watching Heroes! Ba-zing!
But seriously, what kind of wonky logic is that? Tension builds as the show goes on, it doesn't fade away.
::snerk:: Excellent burn! Virtual high-five. ||||