Tom Ault
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
I remember the first television set I brought home for my mother. We set the "rabbit ear" antennae on top, turned on the set and dialed one of three stations. I remember "You can trust your car, to the man who wears the star, the big red Texaco Star," or something like that. Milton Berle and his sidekick did the show, the advertising, the whole bit, and it was clever, clean and nothing to bother us. Those were the days, and it was free!
Today, you may pay for the "bundle." (The phone, the internet and the television combo) or you can just pay for the television including special fees, insurance, state tax, federal tax, plus the fee for the local stations. Now that you have paid the price, you can watch more commercials in less time than you ever dreamed. You can choose from at least six attorneys who will sue anyone for anything, or gobs of pharmaceutical products that are dangerous, or many specialists that can cure everything. Do you remember when doctors, pharmaceuticals and attorneys could not advertise?
To say I don't watch all of this would not be true; I am just another sucker hung up on the idea I might see a program I might like. If I watch long enough and can stomach the 10-15 percent of the show featuring bad language, nudity or other things I don't want to see, I might see the show I assumed would be worth watching.
The sound, once again, increases for commercials! That was supposedly under scrutiny and stopped some time ago. Someone forgot that as it happens when advertising, even the news programs. Why does the news have to be advertised? The news comes on at 8 a.m., noon, 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 10 p.m. and sometimes on some stations at 9 p.m. You can also tune into all-day news stations. Of course, most suggest someone's theory, not true news. Generally, the local news people are much better at honest reporting, but you get tired of hearing the same "breaking news" story every hour all day long. How many weather reports can you handle in one day?
Maybe it is time to reign in the overdone advertising, new breaks and weather assumptions, and we enjoy what we are paying for?