Extended 5 minute commercials are now a thing?

[MarcB]

Apparently extended 5 minute commercials are now a thing. The last few days I've been DVRing shows off the digi-net Antenna TV and the entire first commercial break is a 5 minute long commercial for this skin-care crap called Plexiderm. Who in the world came up with a 5 minute commercial? It's like a mini infomercial in the middle of the show.

 

[umfan]

They are prevalent on the diginets. Maybe the only way they can air actual programs. I prefer these to infomercials.

 

[anotherguyTN]

They happen on You Tube as well.

 

[TheBigA]

They're aimed at networks targeting older demos. The cable news nets run them in fringe time.

 

[CTListener]

They also run on a channel where they're really aggravating -- TVG, the horse racing/betting channel. I don't get it here, but it's on the cable systems in Boston and I can tell you that a live race is often relegated to the top right corner of the screen when one of those mega-ads is running. Sometimes TVG will be carrying races from 4 or 5 tracks, and the spacing between races is irregular, so I'd imagine there are a few gamblers out there cursing loudly as they try to see how their horses are running in a tiny picture with no audio but the audio from the ad.

 

[LKellerIII]

This is actually a thing? I wouldn't know because I don't watch commercials. Between streaming and On Demand, and DVRs, I don't need to. On the rare occasions I want to watch something recent on the Big 4 networks, I just wait a few weeks of months until it is available without commercials

 

[centerfreqradio]

Sorry and no offense to those are in the industry on this forum. . As on the other end of it...

5 minutes ads segments and get hit with a $15 Broadcast TV fee.

 

[BDBopper]

I've seen them on Freeform for a few years now

 

[landtuna]

I don't watch anything on the diginets without recording it first. That gets rid of those never ending stop sets. But the most irritating thing about them isn't necessarily the time they take (because it is about the same time as making a BLT sandwich and popping open a favorite adult beverage) but the repetition. ARGGGG!!!!! The same damn commercials repeated every commercial break!

Thank goodness for PVR's!

 

[seatownmedia]

I like to DVR old sitcoms and police dramas on MeTv, Tvland, and FETV. What I have noticed is all these channels run extra long infomericals, though five minutes is not always the length. Fortunately, these generally happen overnight so I DVR and speed through the infomericals. I suppose their appeal is based on late night viewers who have to sit through them. And I guess that is better than wall-to-wall infomericals. Atleast with the sitcoms, there is a reason to sit through all the commercialality.

 

[CTListener]

But the most irritating thing about them isn't necessarily the time they take (because it is about the same time as making a BLT sandwich and popping open a favorite adult beverage) but the repetition. ARGGGG!!!!! The same damn commercials repeated every commercial break!

Repeat a lie often enough and the people will believe it's the truth. Madison Avenue only borrows its philosophy from those most successful in employing it.

 

[Kelly A]

ARGGGG!!!!! The same damn commercials repeated every commercial break!

Yep, known in advertising circles as: Numbers of Impressions. In these days where traditional and digital compete, agencies want similar impression counts to what they can get on line.