Are TV ads worth your time? Take our quiz.
In the long-forgotten era of appointment television, broadcast viewers had no choice but to let commercials interrupt the show. Videocassette recorders liberated us in the '80s with their novel power to fast-forward through boring commercials, followed by digital video recorders that let us leapfrog over them completely.
But then came streaming services and their inescapable ads. As more streaming services took off, control of the remote reverted to the content provider. Viewers accustomed to pressing a button to make ads vanish are now regularly horrified by countdowns indicating that a program won't resume for another 2 minutes, 30 seconds. Try fast-forwarding, and we're told the operation is disabled.
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The alternative is paying extra for a premium plan. For those with multiple subscriptions, the differentials quickly add up. Netflix with ads is priced at $7.99 per month, but ad-free plans start at $17.99. Hulu with ads is $9.99; without them, $18.99. Disney+ is $9.99, but if you want to inhabit the Star Wars universe without the ads, it's $15.99. Prime Video is included with an Amazon Prime membership ($14.99), but you'll have to add $2.99 to watch 'Reacher' without commercials. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) Let's not forget Paramount+ and Peacock — two-tiered pricing is omnipresent.
The choice of whether to sit through commercials forces me to put a price on my time. I'm not alone. Broadly speaking, there are two types of viewers: those who accept commercials begrudgingly and those willing to pay for the privilege of ad avoidance.
So, are you a watcher or a skipper? I've created a quiz to help you figure out the answer.
14 of 14 Do you consult an actuary table to calculate if you have the remaining years, on average, to fit in commercials?
Never
Regularly
13 of 14 Whose time is it, anyway?
Theirs – time belongs to our Netflix overlords
Mine
12 of 14 Is there ever a time you'd watch the commercials?
Do I have a choice?
During the Super Bowl
11 of 14 What do you feel when a streamer pitches to advertisers: 'Get unskippable ads on TV!'
Resignation
Nausea
10 of 14 How do you react at the movies when the previews keep going on and on?
I play games on my phone or go down to the lobby for refreshments
I grow fidgety and wish I had a remote to make the movie start already
9 of 14 How much influence do commercials have over your life?
I get nightmares from hearing the stated side effects like nausea and diarrhea from all the Wegovy ads
They make me snooze, then snore
8 of 14 What do ad skippers and watchers have in common?
Commercials during live sports
Commercials during live sports
You don't get a choice. They just happen.
7 of 14 How do you spend this time?
Check phone, go to kitchen, tap thigh to beat of "What I Like About You" (The Romantics) repurposed by Budweiser
Read books, exercise, go on vacation, watch even more TV
6 of 14 What's the significance of 283 hours (or 11 days, 19 hours)?
The average time Americans spend watching TV commercials per year
The average time returned to Americans each year for choosing ad-free viewing
5 of 14 What should an onscreen counter do?
Count down to when the program returns
What counter?
4 of 14 What do you hate most about the plan you've chosen?
Having to watch the same commercials over and over again
Series that bleed one episode into another making me forget to go to bed
3 of 14 Which service are you more likely to watch?
Tubi or the Roku Channel
Apple TV+
2 of 14 How much time are you willing to spend watching the program '60 Minutes'?
60 minutes
45 minutes
1 of 14 Do you care about a few more dollars in your pocket every month?
Yes
Meh
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Lucky you, a proud member of Team Ad Skipper! You've got reflexes sharper than a cat on a Roomba. Ads try to catch you, but you're too fast, too free.
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