Column: Commercials are the devil

What happened to the actual ‘program’ in ‘programming?’

Why so many commercials? I mean sure, companies want advertisement, but seriously. It seems like you’re watching more advertisements than you are the actual programs. And sometimes you are, it just depends on the channel and the show you’re watching.

My roommates and I watch Rob Dyrdek’s “Fantasy Factory” almost every night. While watching this show in particular, there is a commercial break at least every 10 minutes. According to www.marketingcharts.com, every hour of regular programing contains an average of 22 minutes of commercials. That’s about 36 percent of every hour of prime time. If you look at late night talk shows it gets even worse. Wow, 29 minutes, that’s 49 percent of an hour on commercials. Shows with the largest commercial time per hour of program are: “America’s Toughest Jobs” (44:50 per hour); “The Biggest Loser” (40:37); and “Knight Rider” (30:27).”

I am of the opinion that this is a form of brainwashing. What else could it be? Why else do I, for no apparent reason, remember that if I ever want to be a motorcycle mechanic I need to call MMI Motorcycle Mechanics Institute? Or that my acne could be removed instantly with Proactiv acne solution?

When I turn on the TV, however rare it may be, I want to see the show I intended to watch in the first place, not 45 minutes of useless information and a little bit of my program sprinkled in the back to keep me interested and solidly logged on the couch.

This is unfortunate for students like us because of all the commercial time. We end up spending twice the amount of time on one program. All that time we could have been using to do something awesome, or just our homework. But instead we were glued to the couch with the pretext of watching “Criminal Minds” or “Myth Busters,” completely oblivious to the fact that we’re wasting probably an hour or more just on frickin’ commercials.

“Bones” is one of the worst for me. It’s just engaging enough to make you want to stick around through the commercial to see what happens next. I never had access to regular TV before I moved here to attend college. I always thought it was funny when people talked about “having” to see the next episode of this or “Oh no! I missed an episode” of that. But now, with my roommates having the TV on most of the time, I realize how easy it is to become hypnotized by entertainment TV.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could only watch what we want and just cut out all the commercials? Oh wait, we can, with things like DVR; however, it seems like even with the ability to fast-forward through commercials, after a while people just let them play because it’s too much work to keep fast-forwarding through every commercial. This sheds a little light on the laziness level of Americans today. It’s food for thought.

In conclusion, commercials are the devil. Everyone should boycott TV. If we did, I bet as a whole we would get a lot more done.

Opinions expressed in editorial and opinion articles are the views of individual NIC students. These views do not necessarily  reflect the opinions of the Sentinel, North Idaho College, or any other organizations or groups there-in. North Idaho College is not responsible for the accuracy of statements or opinions shared.