PBS to air Commercials During Shows

PBS will soon end its long-standing practice of airing entirely commercial-free programming, one of its largest selling points to both viewers and sponsors.

At the network’s annual meeting held this month in Orlando, executives told member stations that shows like Nature and Nova will feature four commercial breaks beginning this fall, with the longest uninterrupted stretch of programming coming in at just under 15 minutes, the New York Times reports.

The switch is intended to combat the problem of viewers “fleeing” to other stations during the network’s blocks of commercials between programs, which can last up to eight minutes. Under the new model, PBS will adopt a “hot switch,” with no break between programs. John F. Wilson, PBS’s chief programmer, told the Times that viewers will never be more than 100 seconds from actual content. (The Atlantic Wire, meanwhile, has a nifty graphic that shows the plan in detail.)

The change will present obstacles to writers accustom to producing content watched in uninterrupted blocks, the kind of viewing many say is vital for in-depth documentary work like Frontline and dramas like Masterpiece Theatre. PBS’s Wilson said that some programs may be spared from commercial breaks, but that many producers will be forced to adapt.

http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/05/31/pbs_commercial_breaks_nature_nova_will_feature_four_commercial_b.html

:argh::grr::puke:

There goes the last vestige of non-scumsuckingly-greed-driven television in America.

They're strapped for cash...

Dont they call it, "Mobile Masterpiece Theater" now? Or is it "Exxon Masterpiece Theater"?

There is nothing public about Republicans.

While annoying, I can FF thru the commercials. It's the subsequent recap of what I just fucking watched that drives me up the wall. Coupled with the "coming next" preview BEFORE the commercials.

Omit those and then I really don't care.

:-(

This is Republicon doing. Stanking up the joint. As usual.

It was hard for me to deal with going 30 minutes while watching "Mystery!" and not know what I should buy next time I'm at the store. I applaud this.

Particularly after one of his PBS specials is interrupted for a commercial for Viagra or Budweiser. :rofl:

:eyes: :eyes:

I pretty much stopped watching PBS when I moved to Nashville. The only time they ever show any program I'm interested in is during pledge drives, and when that's over they go back to material that couldn't/wouldn't challenge Gomer Pyle.

I have a feeling the rest of the country has gone that way, as well.

That's when PBS loses the most viewers. I call them beg-a-thons.

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I'm not in favor of commercial interruption, I think that's a mistake. It may be a harbinger of a post-government funding strategy, though, which may be necessary and even a positive long-term.

What I am glad to see is the "hot switch" and the elimination of the long breaks at the end of a show. We don't have cable and I get very weary trying to wait through the long block without any preview of what's coming next. Seems stupid and glad they have eliminated it.

never watch commercials on anything..

You'll never watch another commercial again.
It's a win for the network and a win for the viewer :silly:

Viagra, Zestra, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, and many more from the MUTE-button All-Star list!! :sarcasm:

Republicans getting a lot of votes and says to himself, "If I want to get more votes, I need to start acting like that".

Once a Democrat acts like a Republican, or PBS acts like commercial television, it becomes pointless and needs to have its plug pulled.

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Public Broadcasting now competes with channels like NatGeo, Discovery and other commercial cable channels for their audience. All these channels have commercial breaks and it doesn't seem to ruin the integrity of their programming.

The political games last spring over NPR funding was a strong shot across the bow to PBS that their government funding could vanish on a political whim and thus go for the corporate dollars instead. Since a majority of PBS shows are now underwritten by one corporate or another, I really don't see this affecting content and if it ensures independent funding for excellent shows such as Nature, Nova and Frontline, I'll adjust.

NatGeo is often back-to-back episodes of The Dog Whisperer. Discovery has these lame reality shows. During the 1980s and 1990s, it had all these wonderful documentaries from around the world.

I agree about how many of these channels are absorbed with reality shows that are cheaper to produce than a series like "Planet Earth" that takes years and lots of money.

Thanks to digital TV I get several PBS channels that offer a wide variety of programs. While I'm not into the crafting or antique shows its a definite alternative from the tripe on the other channels. For years the big money has been creeping in on Public Broadcasting and if this is the way to keep some of the quality shows on the air, c'est la vie. It's no different than the heavy corporate sponsorships I see when I go to museum or attend the symphony.

Cheers...

They call it "enhanced underwriting."

What else do you call those 30 second bits after Antiques Roadshow to tell us how great a particular investment bank is.

Before watching a Nova, we have to hear how a huge oil company cares about some pond somewhere, Or how BP is "redefining green".

Snoopy tells us about Met Life Insurance, as I'm tuning in to American Experience.

I'm already disgusted.

I do think that Insurance Gekko would be a great host for Masterpiece Theater.

The commercials, not that no one watches PBS...

I gave up watching anything other than live sporting events years ago. I record everything and skip every single commercial every single time. 95% of my friends do the same thing. In fact, outside of Super Bowl ads and internet sensations, most people I know couldn't even tell you about more than one or two commercials in the past 18 months.

Advertising is as dead as our consumer economy and nothing is ever going to bring it back...the irony of course is that after successfully staving off commercials for decades, now as they are the last and least effective thing in marketing they will find a home on PBS...lmao!

This is unforgivable!

Looking at their schedule:

Poirot: with ads
Miss Marple: with ads
Zen: without ads
Lewis: with ads
and from earlier this year:
My Boy Jack: with ads
Downton Abbey: with ads
Unseen Alistair Cooke: without ads
Any Human Heart: without ads
39 Steps: without ads
Upstairs Downstairs: without ads (being the BBC sequel; but the original had ads)
South Riding: without ads

Really, it's fairly easy to insert ad breaks into most drama without spoiling it, as long as it can be sufficiently flexible in its timing - ie you don't say "it must be no more than one minute before or after this point".

(Okay, that was when I could actually afford donations but still . . . )

Probably not, though.

of pledge drives. All motivational speakers and bubble gum music for adults. :puke:

It makes me really appreciate my collection of imported DVDs (Masterpiece Theater-quality shoes that have never been released in the U.S.) That region-free DVD player was one of the best entertainment investments I ever made.

during the commercial breaks.

Stupid.

it was nice knowin ya - kinda. yall kinda have lost your way over the last 10 years or so. i'll just watch nature documentaries on youtube and after their frontline hitpiece on wikileaks and julian assange last week - fuck pbs. seriously.