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In The New York Times this morning, sports media and business reporter Richard Samdomir bemoans the incessant commercial interruptions of baseball broadcasts [2], particularly on the radio. And not just in between innings. “The raft of commercial intrusions into the flow of a game is not new. It is simply getting worse,” he writes. “A few friends implored me to listen to a full Yankee game to hear for myself, and I said, ‘Will you pay for my post-[John] Sterling traumatic stress rehab?’ But it’s not just a Yankee radio clutter issue. In-game commercials clutter sports radio and the TV screens, particularly with advertiser-sponsored features, graphics and statistics.” Some examples: A “15 minutes can save you 15 percent” message from Geico after a game’s 15th out. The Time Warner Triple Play contest. The Yankee Power Report, brought to you by the Indiana Point Energy Center. I’ve never been bothered by this crap. It lasts a matter of seconds, and goes in one ear and out the other. To me, advertisers’ TV graphics are more annoying (the AOL running man, for example, who throws a pitch or swings a bat every 10 minutes on Fox broadcasts). What do you think?
—Posted by Tim Nudd