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« Today's News: Our Take
"Clutter" Report Shames ABC, Supernatural
File this one under Last Week's News: My Take, as this story broke while I was on vacay yet merits discussion. The annual "clutter report" issued by MindShare finds that among the Big Four, ABC litters its typical hour with the most nonprogram content — 15 minutes and 38 seconds' worth, a 12-second increase from its previous average. NBC came in second with 14:58, followed by Fox (14:40) and CBS (a lean, mean 13:51).
I surfed around and couldn't find the CW's overall average, but as far as specific programs go, Supernatural is a most dubious No. 1 (tied with What About Brian) among all network offerings, ceding a full 17:50 of each hour to ads and in-house promos. In other words, nearly 30 percent of each Supe' hour has nothing to do with those Winchester boys. Who's the real demon now?
Rounding out the "top" five cluttered programs were All of Us (17:40 per hour's worth), Housewives (17:35) and The War at Home (17:30/not nearly enough).
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May 2, 2007 8:46 AM
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Is it any wonder why so many viewers record shows and skip through ads? In some shows (notably Supernatural), all those "interuptions" can ruin the continuity of the story. They also detract from the oh-so-yummy eye candy that are the Winchesters (and I'm including Big Daddy Winchester.)
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May 2, 2007 9:15 AM
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Are you sure the times listed for those comedies [All of Us (17:40), War at Home (17:30)] aren't the minutes of the show, leaving the ad times to be a bit over 12 minutes? It seems highly unlikely that a half hour comedy has ads comparable to hour shows [Supernatural and Brian with 17:50; Housewives with 17:35].
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May 2, 2007 10:29 AM
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I hate all of the extended commercial breaks in Supernatural. Do you think it's because the show airs on Thursdays?
I heart that show, but I hate the way the CW treats it.
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May 2, 2007 10:53 AM
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I totally agree that there are way too many commercials during Supernatural. I absolutely love the show but can't stand the commercial interruptions that last forever! What I usually do is delete the commercials while I'm watching then watch the show again uninterrupted so that I can get the continuity.
Is there anything we can do to get more show and less commercials?
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May 2, 2007 11:15 AM
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and The War at Home (17:30/not nearly enough).
Oh - how funny!!!! Seriously, how is this crap still on TV and Drive was canceled???? Nathan Filion was robbed, I tell ya!!!
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May 2, 2007 12:54 PM
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at least supernatural has advertisers, a good indication. regardless, appears to me that the network at least clumps all the ads together instead of breaking the show every five minutes, like so many others irritatingly do today. the way supernatural breaks allows us to get up, wash a few dishes and grab another glass of wine...
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May 2, 2007 1:34 PM
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As stated - at least CW can sell advertising on the premium Thursday night lineup! Surely this means that Supernatural will get a season 3 pickup
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May 2, 2007 2:15 PM
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I too think that Supernatural has an inordinate amount of commercials. Someone is gettting rich off this show. Maybe that's good news - we might keep it around longer.
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May 2, 2007 4:08 PM
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I record all of my shows. The ones I want to watch "live," I start watching about 15 minutes into the recording. CBS and NBC interrupt their shows about 10 minutes before the hour and then show a final scene of four or five minutes. Even though I can fast forward through the commercials, it's annoying to have the story interrupted...again...just a few minutes before the show is over.
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May 2, 2007 5:02 PM
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I figured that Supernatural had a lot of commercials. I TIVO everything, and that show does not take very long to watch. I hope it does get renewed, because even though it's short, it sure is sweet!
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May 2, 2007 6:21 PM
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I know this is crazy talk, but I'm starting to think that maybe the networks really don't have our best interests at heart.
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May 2, 2007 8:41 PM
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I know this is crazy talk, but I'm starting to think that maybe the networks really don't have our best interests at heart.
This is the funniest thing I've read all day! Thanks, Chappy.
On that note, 'night all!
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May 3, 2007 12:26 AM
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Thanks for confirming our suspicions regarding Supernatural, Matt!!
There was a mention on one of the SN blogs recently regarding the show being minutes shorter than other hour-long shows, so it is good to see some validation on that point (and finding that it isn't just our obsessiveness exaggerating it!)
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May 3, 2007 11:23 AM
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Matt, this was what I had posted on this Supernatural subject over in Rod's blog last week:
"I wish that the CW wasn't so cash-strapped that it had to devote so much time to ads. I think that the occasional problems we've seen with the show in terms of things wrapping up too smoothly and too fast (a little tiny bit here in Folsom Prison Blues, way more in Playthings, for example) have mostly been attributable to the episodes having to be shorter than most on other networks in order to accommodate more adverts, since the CW can't charge what the big boys do. Counting credits, a long episode of Supernatural (and there have been only three this season) clocks in at barely or just shy of 43 minutes. Most are 40 to 41 minutes, and a few have only managed 39. Your average hour-long show on NBC, CBS, or ABC clocks in at 44 minutes. Those few minutes make an amazing amount of difference, given how much you can show in a very short time. I'd love to see routinely 44-minute episodes of Supernatural!"
Glad to see my personal observations corroborated! I'm glad that companies want to advertise during the quality that is Supernatural, truly I am, but I really do wish I could have more story. I remember when commercials took up less than 10 minutes in an hour ... Sigh. These days, a 50-minute show would air as a "special 90-minute episode!" to accommodate all the adverts.
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May 3, 2007 12:13 PM
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