Advert breaks make viewers enjoy TV shows
Sitting through boring TV commercial breaks could mean viewers enjoy the show they are watching even more, claim researchers.
Scientists conducted a series of experiments into how we watch TV shows and found our enjoyment generally diminishes throughout the duration of the show.
But the tests also showed that if the programme was disrupted - whether by ads or a blank screen - the enjoyment level increased after each break.
The team from a variety of US universities say that younger viewers benefitted more from the interruptions especially when watching slow paced shows.
After hearing the odd news makers of Dancing on Ice announced the show would from now on be divided by 15 advert break, making the show just about watchable.
"Although consumers have difficulty predicting this, their enjoyment of television shows tends to gradually diminish during the viewing experience," said Leif Nelson of the University of California.
"That is, viewers adapt to the show, making every minute slightly less enjoyable than the previous one."
"However, we do find that commercial interruptions, although universally shunned, do make a wide variety of shows more enjoyable, including sitcoms, animations, documentaries, and music videos."
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