I am so excited that my favorite soap opera is on. I have been waiting all day to find out if Brad died in the car accident. The doctor comes out of the surgery room and Brad’s mother asks “Is my son ok?” The doctor is about to answer her question when it goes to commercial and I see an advertisement for back-to-school clothes. Good Grief. I wish I could get through one episode without these stupid commercials. Advertisements typically supported the media in the past. Instructor Fitzgerald has “started to think that this relationship has reversed. The proliferation of media sources…currently has [him] thinking that the entertainment and media [he watches] is actually supporting the advertising” (Mr. Fitzgerald). Do producers care more about advertisers or their audiences?

“General Hospital” producers need a lot of money to create a show. They need actors including Brad, Britt, and Maxie. They need their hospital setting. Advertisers provide these finances so the audience will buy their stuff. If the show is not good, audiences won’t watch and then stuff won’t be bought. So to answer the question, the producers need to cater first to the audience. Only then, when the show is successful, advertisers will profit.

While the relationship between producers and advertisements has not really changed, what has changed is the amount of advertising we must endure. For example, my show “General Hospital” is for an hour and the amount of commercials in that show is about 20 minutes during that hour period. But in the 1960’s a typical one-hour show would run for 51 minutes, with about 9 minutes of commercials (Wikipedia-Television Advertisement). With this study it shows that through the amount of advertisements has grown, with less broadcasting of shows. In fact, when they rerun a typical 1960’s show it may be edited by nine minutes to make more room for extra advertisements (Wikipedia-Television Advertisement). At this rate, in the near future the amount of time for advertisements will supersede the amount of time for shows. So instead of advertisements being in the show, the show will be in the commercial. In that case, the instructor’s prediction would be true.

Not only do advertisers seek popular shows, they also have to look for the appropriate show for their product. Referring back to “General Hospital” the advertisers this show will attract will probably be products needed by housewives; since their kids are going back to school. So what do I do when advertisements are on? Well, I don’t need to wait because I have a DVR. But sometimes I just sit there and get hypnotized by the commercials while I wait until my show comes back on.