| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Hyeon Een
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
|
 Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 8:09 am Post subject: Why does AFN... |
 |
|
Depending on the country you're in, there are TV commercials paid for by companies, or there are not. In some countries there is a mixture whereby there are some channels which are funded by their advertising revenue, and some which are funded by governments or private means.
In the US you have both kinds of channels. You have your HBOs which are funded by subscription, and you have your NBC etc. which get by because advertisers pay to advertise during the commercial breaks.
In the US this advertising has unfortunately been taken to quite extreme levels making most 'network' television unwatchable unless you've grown up with it. It seems that a 30 minute TV program actually last about 20-22 minutes with about 4 commercial breaks driven into them. If you grow up with this it is probably watchable, but if you come from a place without this much advertising it ruins the whole viewing experience.
Anyway, the reason for advertising is to give the networks money, so they can make money and make more programs. The viewers don't want commercial breaks (well they may want a rest, but not 4 in a 22 minute program anyway) but they put up with them because that's the way it is.
So, answer me this, WHY THE HELL does AFN, which makes no money from commercials, insist on putting in US-style commercial breaks throughout all the shows it broadcasts? Their PSAs are not THAT important. Why can't they show The Simpsons with, say, ONE commercial instead of a whole load of them? Why can't they show House without breaks? Why why why? They don't get money from the commercials, so why the hell do they ruin the TV shows they broadcast with them? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
the boy next door
Joined: 08 Jun 2008
Location: next door
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 8:29 am Post subject: |
|
|
how can you be 100% certain that AFN doesn't get any royalties from the commercials, young lady? 
anyhoot, i kinda dig the commercials during broadcasts. they bring a sorta commercial equilibrium into my life... 
oops! gotta bounce...Survivor is on... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
John_ESL_White
Joined: 12 Nov 2008
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 9:51 am Post subject: |
|
|
it's what the troops are used to.
imagine being 18, getting stationed in korea and watching tv without commercials for THE FIRST TIME IN YOUR LIFE!
when you finished your tour, you'd go home, turn on the TV and be soooooo unhappy. You might even write a letter to someone and complain. Heck, you might start a small movement protesting against 10 minutes of commercials during 30 minute broadcasts. It could go nationwide!
That would cause people to loose money. The gov is not into hurting US biz. lol |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 10:19 am Post subject: |
|
|
| An hour-long program is really around 45 minutes long. A sitcom is about 20 minutes long. How else would you suggest AFN fill in the extra 10/15 minutes? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Hyeon Een
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 10:29 am Post subject: |
|
|
| bucheon bum wrote: |
| An hour-long program is really around 45 minutes long. A sitcom is about 20 minutes long. How else would you suggest AFN fill in the extra 10/15 minutes? |
Howabout they show 3x 20 minute (=30 minute) shows an hour? That'd work.
Or show two shows and have 10 minutes of news instead of "don't tip the vending machine over because you might get crushed" PSAs.
Or if they still want to rock it their way, howabout having ONE commercial in the middle, then a bunch between shows. That way they could still get lots of PSAs in, but the show would only be ruined by one commercial instead of 4. Obviously that wouldn't work in the US where the advertisers want their pieces to be in the middle of a show, but for PSAs surely it'd be fine.
I gotta ask, does ANYONE, after living in Korea where you can download stuff quickly and easily, feel that they can go back to watching US style network television? I couldn't imagine watching a TV show with all those commercials now. A decade ago when I was in the US I kinda put up with it, but now you can download TV shows so easily it seems silly to waste 30% of your TV viwing time on commercials.. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Kikomom
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: them thar hills--Penna, USA--Zippy is my kid, the teacher in ROK. You can call me Kiko
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 10:36 am Post subject: |
|
|
Besides the OBVIOUS brainwashing, ever hear of subliminal suggestion? That'd be my guess. 
Guess there's no where to channel surf to... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
drdst122
Joined: 12 Apr 2009
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 1:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I don't really have much insight on this topic but I just wanted to say that I absolutely hate commercials.
It has become quite ridiculous. I was trying to watch a commercial that I found funny online and I had to watch another advertisement before I could watch an ADVERTISEMENT. It's ridiculous! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 2:22 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| Anyway, the reason for advertising is to give the networks money, so they can make money and make more programs. |
I used to be aggravated by this too, until someone explained it to me in a way that made sense of what I was seeing. The purpose of TV in the US is to generate income for the advertisers' companies. Someone figured out that by surrounding ads with programming would attract viewers to the TV machine and they would be exposed to the sales spiels while they wait around for the program to start again. The short version: TV's purpose is to sell dish soap. The sitcom is the lure to attract dish soap customers.
As for why AFN doesn't run 3 twenty-minute programs in an hour, it's because the universe is set up to work in 30 & 60 minute time chunks. Americans are evolved to fit this universal time schedule, unlike Europeans and other less evolved subspecies of humanity. Your proposal would cause enormous social dislocation. Imagine turning on the TV at 7:30--you would have missed the first 10 minutes of The Brady Bunch and the program would be over before you figured out the plot. You would be frozen out of all social conversations with your friends the next day and would soon lose those friends, and deservedly so. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 2:49 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Kikomom wrote: |
Besides the OBVIOUS brainwashing, ever hear of subliminal suggestion? That'd be my guess.
Guess there's no where to channel surf to... |
Brainwashing? Subliminal? I hope you're joking!
To answer the OP's question about the AFN spots, it's kind of easy to check the AFKN FAQ page:
| Quote: |
Why don't you broadcast stateside commercials?
DoD regulation prohibits AFRTS stations from airing commercial advertising. Our programming is supplied by producers for practically nothing. They do it willingly because it supports the military, but also keeps DoD's promise not to make profit on the deal. |
From the same link are three answers regarding the spots:
| Quote: |
Why do fillers/commercial spots vary in quality?
Some are generated by production facilities in Hollywood and others are recorded locally. The difference in available technology and techniques produce a different look and texture. |
&
| Quote: |
Where do you get your spot announcements?
Contractors in the U.S produce many spots. Locally, AFN-Korea generates spots on issues of importance to our audience members as identified by commanders throughout USFK. |
&
| Quote: |
Why do AFRTS spots insult my intelligence?
They are not intended to do that. However, not everyone understands things on the same level. Spots are produced to help everyone understand important issues. |
In short, the time slots that were filled in the US broadcast of the programs are used to provide information to the US military population, not the English-speaking foreign population, in Korea on matters the local commanders have determined to be important to the US military population. And since the Americans are already used to having a show last half an hour or a full hour including the commercials, it's not a disrupting feature for them. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
greedy_bones
Joined: 01 Jul 2007
Location: not quite sure anymore
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 9:57 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I understand the AFN commercial scheme, but I don't get the Korean cartoon network's system.
Why, when showing the Simpsons, do they roll credits, then cut to a commercial, roll the credits again, cut to a commercial, roll the credits again, cut to a commercial, and then finally show the episode? Why not just have commercials for 5 or 10 minutes and then show the episode? Are they trying to tease me with fake credits? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Kikomom
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: them thar hills--Penna, USA--Zippy is my kid, the teacher in ROK. You can call me Kiko
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 2:20 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| CentralCali wrote: |
| Kikomom wrote: |
Besides the OBVIOUS brainwashing, ever hear of subliminal suggestion? That'd be my guess.
Guess there's no where to channel surf to... |
Brainwashing? Subliminal? I hope you're joking! |
Yes Cali, it was a joke. But I was in the US Navy for twelve years, and there's plenty of brainwashing going on. I watched the Gulf War (nightly shelling of Baghdad in 1991) on AFARTS from my concrete bunker, errr... hurricane safe housing unit at Guantanamo Bay. 24/7 CNN. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 2:39 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Oh my. Please tell me there is a missing letter right after 'F'. Please. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Kikomom
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: them thar hills--Penna, USA--Zippy is my kid, the teacher in ROK. You can call me Kiko
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 3:38 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| military slang |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
daskalos
Joined: 19 May 2006
Location: The Road to Ithaca
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:26 am Post subject: |
|
|
Okay, here's the real reason PSAs (Public Service Announcements) are inserted into AFN programming. The only justifiable reason (according to the US Congress and the Department of Defesnse) to provide US militaty personnel with quasi-current TV programs is Information. (What many would call "propaganda.") And since those sitcoms are made to accommodate four to six minutes of commercial advertising, why not use those dramatic breaks to insert information/propaganda?
Granted, some of those PSAs are indeed propaganda, but some of them are indeed useful information for US service people, and even for non-military expats (e.g., how to blend in with the locals, the impotance of going the extra mile if one wants to be accepted, etc.).
So, just chill. Treat the PSAs like you treat commercials. An opportunity to get another beer, to feed the dog, whatever.
But really, get over it. Those PSAs are the entire legal justification for AFN's existence.
P.S. I speak as someone who spent a good part of his US military career working for regional manifestations of AFN. In this case, I actually know what I'm talking about. That is, this is not my opinion - this is fact. Check it out. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
djsmnc
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Dave's ESL Cafe
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:49 am Post subject: Re: Why does AFN... |
|
|
| Hyeon Een wrote: |
So, answer me this, WHY THE HELL does AFN, which makes no money from commercials, insist on putting in US-style commercial breaks throughout all the shows it broadcasts? Their PSAs are not THAT important. Why can't they show The Simpsons with, say, ONE commercial instead of a whole load of them? Why can't they show House without breaks? Why why why? They don't get money from the commercials, so why the hell do they ruin the TV shows they broadcast with them? |
I have always assumed that it was because the shows come from American broadcasters with the breaks already in them. AFN has to use something to fill up the spaces. That's how they can pump them out quickly.
I don't know why that hasn't been mentioned yet. You'd think all the people here are English teachers or something! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
