I forced myself to watch American Idol (AI) a couple of times recently. Though I enjoyed the songs, the amount of time I spent on watching the commercials bothered me. I would rather watch these songs on my computer, where I need to watch only one commercial (which can be skipped easily) per song.
I was curious about the number of 30-second commercials they broadcast during AI. While watching the show on May 2, 2007, I made a list of commercials shown during this program (see spreadsheet at the bottom). I found that they aired 47 commercials and 5 public safety messages within one hour - about 39 minutes of actual program, and 21 minutes of commercials!
Thousands of children watch this program and many programs like this throughout their childhood. According to a report by the University of California at Berkeley in 2000, the FCC restricts the number of commercials during children's programming to 10.5 minutes per hour. So, the number of commercials aired during AI is about twice the recommended limit for the children.
As these commercials typically flash rapidly within a short period of time, I think watching them for prolonged periods will reduce our attention span and our conventional intelligence. We prefer to live free of door-to-door sales and unsolicited marketing phone calls. Imagine having hundreds of marketers invading our privacy in our living rooms every day. Sure, without sponsors, it would be hard for the broadcasting companies to bring quality programs on our TVs. For them, the bottom line is making a profit. We too need to ensure that the programs we watch are worth the price we pay in the form of donating our time to learn about various products (most of which are unnecessary).
The Source Book for Teaching Science says that an average child watches 20,000 commercials every year! A Stanford University report says that television viewing has substantial negative effects on children's health and behavior. TV can be a good learning and entertainment tool, if it is used wisely - moderation is the key.
I was curious about the number of 30-second commercials they broadcast during AI. While watching the show on May 2, 2007, I made a list of commercials shown during this program (see spreadsheet at the bottom). I found that they aired 47 commercials and 5 public safety messages within one hour - about 39 minutes of actual program, and 21 minutes of commercials!
Thousands of children watch this program and many programs like this throughout their childhood. According to a report by the University of California at Berkeley in 2000, the FCC restricts the number of commercials during children's programming to 10.5 minutes per hour. So, the number of commercials aired during AI is about twice the recommended limit for the children.
As these commercials typically flash rapidly within a short period of time, I think watching them for prolonged periods will reduce our attention span and our conventional intelligence. We prefer to live free of door-to-door sales and unsolicited marketing phone calls. Imagine having hundreds of marketers invading our privacy in our living rooms every day. Sure, without sponsors, it would be hard for the broadcasting companies to bring quality programs on our TVs. For them, the bottom line is making a profit. We too need to ensure that the programs we watch are worth the price we pay in the form of donating our time to learn about various products (most of which are unnecessary).
The Source Book for Teaching Science says that an average child watches 20,000 commercials every year! A Stanford University report says that television viewing has substantial negative effects on children's health and behavior. TV can be a good learning and entertainment tool, if it is used wisely - moderation is the key.
Coming back to AI, the good thing is, this program raised $70 Million for charity in one week!
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