Advertising is everywhere. Some people will go to extremes and advertise a product on their forehead or back. I'm noticing a similarity. Watching a program on a cable-TV channel such as TBS or Sci-Fi channel, you will see many ads which float throughout your TV screen while the show is in progress. Not only is this annoying, but it interrupts the flow of the story.
From the TV to the computer. Try clicking on a column to read from your favorite newspaper on the internet. Once again, we have butterflies flying over the text, cars driving around a track, and so on. If you are sharp enough to click on the tiny box with the "X" though it, the ad disappears. Can't do this with the remote control.
This practice has spread to the major TV networks. An original episode of a favorite show is contaminated with endless crawls and scrolling ads either at the top of bottom of the screen announcing the day and time for another show. I can tolerate seeing the logo of an "ABC" or "NBC" at the bottom of the screen. We've adjusted to it and it's not too bad. Same goes for the network news.
At the end of a show, all bets are off. The screen is shrunk to the size of a postage stamp while the credits role in that tiny space. The other 2/3 of the screen are filled with loud, annoying commercials for other shows that network is promoting. It's beyond annoying. Once in a blue-moon, we'd like to read the closing credits. Not happening. And, from time to time, when there's a full screen shown while the credits are rolling, they're speed up to warp speed making it virtually impossible to read.
This is the sort of thing which drives people to buy DVD copies of their favorite shows in droves. Now, **you** program your network anyway you wish. Major holidays bring marathon showings of popular shows. The promos proclaim something like this: "spend Memorial Day with Ray." 24 hours of non-stop Everybody Loves Raymond on TBS!" No thanks. Three reasons...
1. I have a life and it doesn't include watching reruns of something I've seen dozens of times on a holiday.
2. All of these episodes have been edited to within an inch of their life to make room for more commercials. Some of the best material has been deleted from a show.
3. As described above, that annoying promotion machine has no off switch. Sometimes an actor's face is obscured by the warning of a show listed with a "PG" rating. And, to add insult to injury, if your watching a cable channel, it's logical to assume you are paying big bucks for it.
Try beating the networks at their own game and taping the shows. Won't work. Again, it's those continuous ads which invade the TV screen much like ants at a picnic. DVD anyone?
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