PBS is going to move its ads to the middle of shows

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

There's a story going around that PBS is going to start airing commercials this fall. Which is ridiculous.

PBS already airs commercials. Has for years.

The change that's coming is that PBS is going to move the commercials it already airs from the beginning and end of programs to the middle.

The New York Times reported that at a recent meeting with member stations, PBS officials told member stations that beginning in the fall, "science series 'Nature' and 'Nova' would contain corporate and foundation sponsor spots, promotional messages and branding within four breaks inside the shows, instead of at the very beginning and end."

Some folks are in a tizzy. I'm not.

Somebody has to pay for this programming. Unless you want even more pledge drives - unless you're all going to come up with a bigger donation - PBS needs corporate sponsors.

Again, it's not like this is new advertising. It's just relocated advertising.

And if I'm a corporate sponsor, I would appreciate it if someone actually saw my this-program-is-made-possible-by spot. By bunching ads in runs that last up to eight minutes, nobody is watching them.

C'mon. When was the last time you sat through that many commercials without changing channels?

That has been a considerable problem for PBS. Here's more from the New York Times story:

"It's almost as if someone pulled the fire alarm and they scrambled for the exits," John F. Wilson, the chief programming executive for PBS, told attendees to the annual meeting, while exhibiting a Nielsen ratings chart showing a steep cliff where the audience disappeared between shows.

No kidding. Big surprise there.

The plan is to air spots in intervals approximately 15 minutes apart during the show. Then when one show ends, the next show will begin.

Apparently, if the world doesn't end when PBS does this with "Nature" and "Nova," it will spread to other shows.

And the world is not going to end.

Some people are going to be really upset by this. The people who skip the ads at the beginning and the end of PBS programs now.

If you're really offended, you can always skip the commercials in the middle.