Don't make me bust out a stopwatch on you
I've been watching Caprica, BSG's spinoff/prequel on Syfy, and I'm still trying to make up my mind what I think of it. That's not really the subject of this post, but it's the context for a comment I made to a friend that it seemed to have a lot higher ad-to-show ratio than I remember from BSG - to the point where I sometimes felt we spent more time with ads than with show. Having said that, I started feeling increasingly motivated to actually validate that.
To build on that, Friday's episode (which was also the mid-season cliffhanger "finale") boasted that it was being sponsored - "with limited commercial interruption" - by Verizon. Oddly enough, though, it seemed to be exactly as ad-ridden as the previous week. So, I went back through both episodes with a stopwatch this weekend. Because I'm a geek. And that's how I roll.
Let's start with the most basic: out of a total of sixty minutes, both episodes ran to 43 minutes and change of actual show, including things like titles. That's pretty standard, so we aren't seeing an inordinate ratio of ad time to show time. Both episodes were also split into six blocks of show, interrupted by five blocks of ads, none of which exceeded four minutes in length.
Those of you playing at home may be wondering what Verizon got in terms of "limited commercial interruption." I'm wondering too. Drilling into Friday's episode in a bit more detail, we get:
Now, mind you, "story" is including one point where a character, searching for a metaphor to describe his frustration with a piece of technology, snaps (and I do quote): "It's no different than your fancy cellphone, and right now, I don't need a cellphone that will check my mail and wipe my ass. I need a cellphone that works."
Given that's one of the core ad narratives for everyone that isn't the iPhone, I do wonder if that was included in the pricetag.
Now, looking at the episode prior, we did get a statement that Craftsman was a featured sponsor, but no claim of limited commercials. I'll spare you the blow-by-blow, but some of the salient details were
ObQuote: "The mass media is supported and sustatined by commercial entities. And corn flakes and Shakespeare are simply not kissing cousins. Leonard Bernstein and living bras are incompatible. And you cannot sustain adult, probing, meaningful drama when the proceedings are interrrupted every twelve minutes by a dozen dancing rabbits with toilet paper." -- Rod Serling
To build on that, Friday's episode (which was also the mid-season cliffhanger "finale") boasted that it was being sponsored - "with limited commercial interruption" - by Verizon. Oddly enough, though, it seemed to be exactly as ad-ridden as the previous week. So, I went back through both episodes with a stopwatch this weekend. Because I'm a geek. And that's how I roll.
Let's start with the most basic: out of a total of sixty minutes, both episodes ran to 43 minutes and change of actual show, including things like titles. That's pretty standard, so we aren't seeing an inordinate ratio of ad time to show time. Both episodes were also split into six blocks of show, interrupted by five blocks of ads, none of which exceeded four minutes in length.
Those of you playing at home may be wondering what Verizon got in terms of "limited commercial interruption." I'm wondering too. Drilling into Friday's episode in a bit more detail, we get:
- [8:00] Story: Previously on, pre-titles scenes, and titles
- [ :45] Ads: Verizon sponsorship [15 sec], Droid/Verizon [30 sec]
- [5:00] Story
- [3:45] Ads: Final Fantasy XII for PS3 [15 sec], Palm Pre/Verizon commercial [30 sec], Cialis [60 sec], Hot Tub Time Machine [15 sec], SyFy "Imagine Greater" promo [5 sec], Your Northwestern Chevy Dealers [30 sec], metal detector kits [30 sec], Stargate Universe promo [20 sec], Riverworld promo [20 sec]
- [5:15] Story
- [4:10] Ads: SG-U Sneak Peak promo [45 sec], HTC/T-Mobile (!) [15 sec], Myoplex [30 sec], PS3 God of War [30 sec], Delta faucets [30 sec], Hershey [15 sec], Clash of the Titans [30 sec], Nature Valley granola [15 sec], HTC/T-Mobile (again!) [15 sec], Merlin promo [15 sec], Destination Truth promo [10 sec]
- [13:15] Show
- [3:50] Ads: Caprica/Verizon VCast [10 sec], Verizon [30 sec], Nature Valley [15 sec], George Takei for Sharp Quattron [30 sec], Lexus hybrids [30 sec], Final Fantasy XII [15 sec], SyFy "Imagine Greater" promo [5 sec], skeevy insurance offer that mentioned "national healthcare plan" and its 800 number many times but was cagey who they were [30 sec], Comcast [30 sec], Merlin marathon promo [20 sec], Warehouse 13 promo [15 sec]
- [6:25] Story
- [3:05] Ads: Hot Tub Time Machine [15 sec], Cialis [60 sec], HTC/T-Mobile (3!) [15 sec], SyFy "Imagine Greater" promo [5 sec], Mesothelioma ambulance chasing [60 sec], SG-U promo [20 sec], Merlin promo [30 sec]
- [6:00] Story: including closing titles, next episode teaser, and another SG-U promo split-screened over 10 seconds of credits scroll
Now, mind you, "story" is including one point where a character, searching for a metaphor to describe his frustration with a piece of technology, snaps (and I do quote): "It's no different than your fancy cellphone, and right now, I don't need a cellphone that will check my mail and wipe my ass. I need a cellphone that works."
Given that's one of the core ad narratives for everyone that isn't the iPhone, I do wonder if that was included in the pricetag.
Now, looking at the episode prior, we did get a statement that Craftsman was a featured sponsor, but no claim of limited commercials. I'll spare you the blow-by-blow, but some of the salient details were
- We had the same number of commercial breaks, and again none longer than 4 minutes. Our longest stretch of story was ten minutes and change.
- Craftsman ads ran a combined total of a minute and a quarter, including a 20 second "what's coming up after the break" preview that they sponsored
- Verizon had all but one of the same ads they had this week - and, oddly, no HTC/T-Mobile ads
- Cialis again demonstrated its prodigious length with two 60 second ads, but Mesothelioma was replaced by a Hoverround commercial for the only other full-minute ad
ObQuote: "The mass media is supported and sustatined by commercial entities. And corn flakes and Shakespeare are simply not kissing cousins. Leonard Bernstein and living bras are incompatible. And you cannot sustain adult, probing, meaningful drama when the proceedings are interrrupted every twelve minutes by a dozen dancing rabbits with toilet paper." -- Rod Serling