MSNBC has an article up entitled 'How To Get Healthy In Four Hours A Week': the premise of which is, use the time you currently use watching television commercials to do some exercise instead.
A Nielsen Media Research report from fall 2006 shows that the average American spends four hours and 35 minutes watching television each day. Each week, television viewing adds up to more than 30 hours — well beyond a part-time job.
Picking my jaw up off the ground here. Of course, we have to take this with a pinch of salt: I'm sure there are some folk who do sit immobile on a sofa, slack-jawed, taking in the adverts, but I'm also sure that an enormous chunk of so-called 'television watching' is actually just having the television on - while the humanoids do something else. Background noise. Companion media. Approximately 50% of television consumption is "on in the background", in fact, according to some BBC research I read last year (can't find any online citations there, sorry).
Makes you wonder why television commercials are considered to be such valuable vehicles for a message, doesn't it?
Either way, jumping around for the four minutes or so of adverts each time they come on (assuming you live in the past and haven't TiVoed them off already) is a fine idea. Or just play the Wii.
>>jumping around for the four minutes or so of adverts each time they come on (assuming you live in the past and haven't TiVoed them off already)
The past, or the UK! :(
Posted by: Jen | December 31, 2006 at 12:36