When I grew up (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth) television as a medium offered consumers a square deal. You paid for what you watched by viewing commercials.
Now television shows nearly twice as many commercials per hour as they did 40 or even 20 years ago--and we are also charged by cable companies. According to my calculus, we are being charged twice. The first charge is our monthly access fee. The second charge is all the commercials we are subjected to.
BTW, with NBC owned by Comcast, at least one network is double-dipping. Comcast gets revenue by setting extortionate prices on access, then hits you again with too many commercials. This sort of ownership was struck down in the 1950s (when the US had a functioning, regulating government) when the major movie studios owned the movie theaters. Owning both production and distribution was declared illegal.
It's no wonder people are turned off by TV and looking for alternative ways to get their entertainment.
When I watch the Olympics, or try to amid the onslaught of advertising, I am being charged to watch (my $75/month cable bill which essentially grants me access to what used to be free) and then I'm charged for watching (20 minutes of commercials an hour.)
Too much of the world is set up this way. Just go to a sporting event or a concert or an opera. In addition to the inflated ticket prices you must pay, you are assaulted with ads at every turn.
That doesn't seem fair to me.
Further, to me, it seems to create disdain among viewers. For both the media and the message.
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