[mythtv-users] Chris Isaak

[Fred Squires]

On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 1:47 PM, Mike Perkins
<mikep at randomtraveller.org.uk> wrote:
> jarpublic at gmail.com wrote:
>>
>> I posted this story last month. There is length discussion in this
>> thread: http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/366076.
>>
>> I don't know anything about the validity of the research but they are
>> not claiming that people like commercials. Nor are they showing the
>> head banging phenomenon nicely summarized above. It is more like the
>> phenomenon you experience when eating a bowl of ice cream. The bites
>> later on are not nearly as enjoyable as the first bites. But if you
>> take a break and come back to your ice cream you can regain some of
>> that initial enjoyment, improving the overall experience. Whether we
>> realize it or not we don't get as much enjoyment out of a show by
>> watching it straight through as we do by watching it with
>> interruptions. They showed that it wasn't anything special about the
>> commercials. They performed the study again but just had the show
>> switch to a different show during the breaks (channel surfing) and
>> they had similar outcome. I rarely sit and just watch TV and do
>> nothing else anymore. I am almost always multitasking. I wonder what
>> that does?
>>
> Their argument sounds to me like a load of old cobblers. Does that mean that
> the first few minutes of any feature film I watch are the most exciting?
> Should they stop the action every ten minutes to allow the audiences
> expectations to rise again? I suspect some attempt at self-justification
> here.
>
> I'm in the UK, and I watch things on the BBC channels (amogst others). No
> breaks in programs at all. I don't have any problem with that. Serials,
> films, sports events, no problem at all. If I have to get up, I accept I may
> miss a few seconds of action. Using Myth, I just hit pause and even that
> possibility is gone. Do people really have difficulty sitting and watching
> something without distractions for that long? Is it just what you get used
> to, perhaps?

I would imagine it has more to do with the structure of US programming
than with the commercials themselves.
Most programs will have a cliff hanger before the commercial, and then
the payoff after the show returns. Without the break I wouldn't think
that those would be quite as exciting, because the payoff is almost
immediate.

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