Comments on: The Office – Why 44 Minutes?

By: LT

LT — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 16:58:45 +0000

Also note that the shows ran long into the next hour. When shows bleed over like that, the audience bleeds too, giving NBC a better chance of winning each timeslot in terms of ratings. To me, that was probably the biggest motivator of those extra long episodes. November is a key sweeps month, after all.

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 22:50:56 +0000

Interesting that you don’t have a problem with the also-not-subtle references to Hooters and Chili’s.

Also what do you think about start/end times for shows that screw up Tivo watching — e.g., ending a show at 9:03?

By: Lewis Green

Lewis Green — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 16:37:54 +0000

I’m not so upset with the imbedded ad. In fact, I think that all too often advertisers try too hard to be cute and in doing so the message gets lost. The point is that ads should be blatant and easy to recognize and understand.

As for television viewing, you got it. Most of us know we are watching crap; we just happen to watch the best crap available at any given time.

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 15:52:09 +0000

I think this was intentionally blatant. NBC followed up with a similarly blatant but much funnier placement of Snapple in 30 Rock.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 13:22:05 +0000

I love the office but I agree about the staples shredder. In addition, there was a staples add for that same shredder during the commercial break.

However, in the age of TiVo where TV viewer can skip over commercials, advertiser are forced to create new ways to push their products. I’m certain that we’ll be seeing alot more product placements in The Office and other shows.