Before and After the Commercials

Can there be anything more aggravating than watching a documentary on TV than the nonsense that happens before and after a Commercial break. A voice announces ""After the break..." and proceeds to tell us what's about to follow. Really! Well if I stay tuned I'll be watching so I don't actually need to know. Worse follows. As soon as the commercials are over, a voice tells us what we've just seen as in "Previously we saw..."

If I wasn't a cynic I'd say that it was done to stop us switching to another channel or to inform us if we've joined half way through the programme.

But I am a cynic. Surely this is done because it eats up time before and after each segment. So programme makers can get away with around 5 minutes less footage per hour long programme. Think of the money that can save on the production budget. Shameful I call it.