[net.misc] Commercials on PBS

ewp (11/02/82)

"Public" television is not free, and only a small minority of the people
who watch it actually send in any money.  I hope that "distressed" was
distressed because he sent in money to keep it commercial free.
Unfortunately, they didn't get enough to make it without some commercials.
Our only consolation is the small number and high quality of the
commercials they do allow.

                                      without malice aforethought,
                                      Ed Pawlak       BTL - IW

ignatz (11/02/82)

WTTW does not, to my eye, particularly screen the commercials.  They have,
so far, bunched them between shows only, and usually followed by an apology.
Basically, not enough people volunteered to subscribe, and the choice was
between the quality of presentation, or supplemental income.
	Of course we're bothered; but, if the choice had to be made, I think
this was the right one.

				Dave Ihnat
				ihuxx!ignatz

dwv (11/02/82)

As long as the commercials are between shows they dont bother me
in the least. Better to have them between high quality shows then
in the middle of low quality shows. I did send my $30 to WTTW in
Chicago.
				Not afraid to sound commercial
				Dave Vollman
				Naperville, IL.

paul (11/02/82)

	From reading the newspapers, I understand that commercials on PBS are
	being "test-marketed" in several cities.  That's why some have seen
	them, and others haven't.  Anyway, for those of you who are in a
	market that is showing commercials, you can do the rest of us a favor.
	Get into bitch mode and complain locally.  Flame those program
	directors!

	Otherwise, commercials will spread nation wide!!!!!
	We're counting on you.

	PS   Do they show Ronco commercials, or the more tasteful
	Ginsu steak knives and Popeil pocket fisherman ones?

douglis (11/02/82)

I agree fully that it is better to have commercials in-between shows
than during them.  One long series of commercials gives the viewer a
chance to run off and grab a snack without fear of missing something,
whereas lots of 5-minute breaks just ruin the continuity of anything we
watch short of "Roger loves Rover."  Most (all?) European television
has commercials before and after the news, but not during
entertainment.  Now, if only \private/ television would follow the
example, we could really enjoy television!

				Fred Douglis
				decvax!yale-comix!douglis
				douglis@YALE

tjr (11/03/82)

re: Commercials on PBS, and TV in general.

There have been several articles declaiming the trend of American TV,
citing its pandering to a 4-year old audience, etc. And also several
suggestions to throw the TV out the window (shades of SCTV), because there
are MANY better things to do than sit mesmerized in front of a screen
(but what are you doing this minute?!).

I disagree. There are many interesting and intelligent programs on TV.
In fact, one could easily argue that TV is THE MAJOR ART FORM of this
decade. Much of this is due, of course, to its ability to show movies,
but a significant fraction of the good (by your definition, whatever it is)
programs are TV originals. The trick, of course, is to know the difference,
as there is also a great deal of junk on TV.

There is another aspect of TV which is so obvious that the other articles
have largely neglected it. TV is virtually the only way to view the
great (and the not-so-great) movies of the past. This alone, to me, is
worth the costs of TV (yes, and even the pain of an occasional glimpse
of Alice, or Archie Bunker, or ...).

A note: The purchase of a Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) has significantly
improved my life-style. I can now watch good movies at my convenience,
when they are shown at the station's convenience (3am). The number of
good, interesting movies and programs now greatly exceeds my ability to
watch them. Although the small-screen and poor audio are detriments,
the sense and scope of the artists' intentions come through in force;
it's MUCH preferable to not seeing them at all.

		Tom Roberts
		..ihps3!ihnet!tjr

bj (11/04/82)

	From reading the newspapers, I understand that commercials on PBS are
	being "test-marketed" in several cities.  . . .

What? You don't get all your news from the net???

				Not afraid to commercialize my name,
					B.J.
					decvax!yale-comix!herbison-bj
					Herbison-BJ@Yale

tom@sri-unix (11/04/82)

Rather than just complaining, give $$ & complain.