I was watching one of my favorite all-time sitcoms, Seinfeld, and noticed that after watching the same episode over 25 times over the last 10 years, something was different. Fox network is now shortening the episodes in favor of more advertising jammed into the already short half hour that sitcoms usually air for per episode.

How do I know this? One of my favorite lines was cut off for a commercial break. I assume that this is happening all over TV. I can only assume that advertisers are not pouring money into broadcast marketing as they once did. According to Ron Gold of Marketing Works PR, “I changed the name of my company from Advertising Works to Marketing Works PR since advertising is associated with being too expensive”. I think that rings true in this economy and advertisers are finding new and creative ways to marketing their business through avenues like business networking, social media, and improved search engine optimization.

I understand why television programs are being cut, but I do not like the fact that the shortest unit of television air time is half hour. I conducted a fun little experiment one night a few years ago when the economy was good. I timed the episode portion of the 1/2 hour and cut out the commercials. I came out to 18 minutes. 12 minutes of advertising took up half an hour. That is 40%. Now, with this economy and advertising being increased, it is more in the 50% range.

When you watch your next television program, see if you can spot this trend. Hopefully this will stop when the economy improves. It is as annoying as the MTA tax that businesses and the entities pay for the MTA in NY State when we business owners do not even commute other than our car.

The solution: I think if these broadcast companies lower their cost per advertising, maybe the viewing public will see some value.

What do you think?