[mythtv-users] Chris Isaak

[Mike Perkins]

jarpublic at gmail.com wrote:
> I posted this story last month. There is length discussion in this
> thread: http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/366076.
> 
> I don't know anything about the validity of the research but they are
> not claiming that people like commercials. Nor are they showing the
> head banging phenomenon nicely summarized above. It is more like the
> phenomenon you experience when eating a bowl of ice cream. The bites
> later on are not nearly as enjoyable as the first bites. But if you
> take a break and come back to your ice cream you can regain some of
> that initial enjoyment, improving the overall experience. Whether we
> realize it or not we don't get as much enjoyment out of a show by
> watching it straight through as we do by watching it with
> interruptions. They showed that it wasn't anything special about the
> commercials. They performed the study again but just had the show
> switch to a different show during the breaks (channel surfing) and
> they had similar outcome. I rarely sit and just watch TV and do
> nothing else anymore. I am almost always multitasking. I wonder what
> that does?
> 
Their argument sounds to me like a load of old cobblers. Does that mean that the 
first few minutes of any feature film I watch are the most exciting? Should they 
stop the action every ten minutes to allow the audiences expectations to rise 
again? I suspect some attempt at self-justification here.

I'm in the UK, and I watch things on the BBC channels (amogst others). No breaks 
in programs at all. I don't have any problem with that. Serials, films, sports 
events, no problem at all. If I have to get up, I accept I may miss a few 
seconds of action. Using Myth, I just hit pause and even that possibility is 
gone. Do people really have difficulty sitting and watching something without 
distractions for that long? Is it just what you get used to, perhaps?

-- 

Mike Perkins