How to Gain an Hour of Time Watching Television

Have you been frazzled or stressed out because you feel that there simply not enough time in the day to get things done? Would you like an extra hour added to your nights? No, this is article does not advocate moving to a 25-hour day, but there are a couple of simple ways you can find an hour in your day.

Some people feel that television is a waste of time. Yet, television provides us with enjoyment and pleasure. Giving up watching your favorite shows is not part of this program. However, what many people don't know is that television programs have been getting shorter the past few years.

In the 1960s, a 60-minute program ran was about 51 minutes long. The other nine minutes were filled with commercials. In the past forty years, our television programs have been getting shorter and the commercial breaks have been getting longer.

Today, the same 60-minute program only runs 42 minutes long. The average ½-hour show runs only 22 minutes long. That means, every night when you sit down to watch your prime-time television, you are watching 48 to 54 minutes of commercials. If you add a couple of minutes for the opening and closing credits, that gives you at least an hour of viewing time that spent not watching the show for every three hours of television that you watch.

Luckily for us, that as commercials have been getting longer, technology has been getting better. There are several ways that you can avoid the commercials while watching your favorite shows. True, advertisers do not want you to do this, but what they don't know won't hurt them.

Digital Technology

Digital Video Recorders, or DVRs, are devices that record TV shows digitally (or without a tape). Tivos are one brand of DVRs, but almost every cable and satellite company offers some brand of them.

Having a DVR will enable you to watch your programs the same night they air. Simply program your DVR to record your shows. Then, wait an hour before you start watching TV and fast forward through the commercials. By the time your shows are over, it will be time for the news.

VCR Technology

There are a couple of ways that VCRs can enable you to skip commercials. Of course, all the ways will require you to first record the shows you plan on watching. The first is the old tried and true fast-forward button on the remote. It's easy, simple, but lacks some of the panache of the newer methods out there.

If you are planning to purchase a new VCR, look into purchasing one that has one or more of the following options: skip search, commercial skip, or commercial advance.

• Skip Search is a button on your VCR's remote that will fast forward the VHS tape in chunks of either 30 or 60 seconds-the traditional lengths of most commercials.
• Commercial Skip is the same concept as skip search, except it will sometimes allow you to forward through longer chunks of time.
• Commercial Advance has to be the most amazing form of technology, but it is not always reliable. Essentially, it requires you to engage commercial advance during a recording. The VCR will then insert electronic markers on the tape when ever it feels a commercial break is occurring (it relies on fade ins/outs, darkness and audio levels to determine the commercials). Then, when you play the tape, it will automatically fast forward through the commercials for you.

One of the drawbacks of using VCRs is that you might not get to watch your favorite shows until the following night. This can be very bad if you have coworkers who like to discuss television the next day. Still, if you have more than one VCR, you can always move to another TV and begin watching your shows before the night is through.

As you can see, you can easily gain an extra hour at night without missing any shows. You can also brag to your friends that you've cut your television viewing time by a third. After all, everyone always says it's about quality and not quantity-by reducing the quantity of television you're watching you are easily improving the quality of your life.