TVSquad

• The networks have more coverage of the Democratic National Convention at 10 (the cable nets have all-night coverage).
• At 7, USA has more of The U.S. Open.
• At 8, ABC has a new Wipeout, followed by a new Wanna Bet?
• NBC has a new, two-hour America's Got Talent at 8.
• ABC Family has a new Secret Life of the American Teenager at 8, then the season premiere of Greek.
• ESPN has two new episodes of The World Series of Poker at 8.
• TCM has Touch of Evil at 8, followed by Psycho.
• At 8:40, BBC America has the premiere of Gavin & Stacey.
• At 9, CBS has a new Big Brother.
• TBS has the special World's Funniest Commercials 2008 at 9.
• Also at 9: Sci-Fi has a new Eureka, followed by a new ECW.
• At 10, FX has the minisode finale of Rescue Me.
• A&E has a new episode of The Cleaner at 10.
• Lifetime has a new How To Look Good Naked at 10.
• History Channel has a new Evolve at 10.
• There's a new Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel on HBO at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Have you seen the annoying new ad campaign for the ESPN SportsCenter relaunch? If you watch even a half-hour of ESPN programming -- or like me, Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption -- you can't miss these commercials.

There's a young, 20-something guy named Steve running around with a bulky, scoreboard-like digital clock with a strap that hangs around his neck like he's a peanut vendor at a baseball game.

The ads show him going through his day -- working out at the gym, jogging -- while he's waiting for the launch of the new, 9-hour SportsCenter on August 11. The commercials are completely live, which I grant you is novel, but they are not funny, clever or up to the ESPN standard. I hate them. They're jarring, poorly done and, like I said, annoying. I guess some genius in marketing decided that any way to make the viewer remember that a new format is coming is good enough.

Here's a sample of Steve's work (don't say I didn't warn you!):

The Food Network is one of my favorite channels, I admit it. I can tune in just about anytime and enjoy Ace of Cakes or Good Eats or Boy Meets Grill or Paula Deen, whatever. Generally speaking, they seem to have a good, consistent and enjoyable programming package.

Okay, that's what's good about FN. Now for the sour to go with the sweet. Last night I was catching up with The Next Food Network Star, watching the second showing of the reality competition show because I wasn't able to watch the original broadcast. No big deal, right? Wrong!

Bill Engvall is slowly but surely taking over your television.

Brett already told you about the annoying commercial-within-a-show ads for The Bill Engvall Show that TBS is running, and now comes word that the show will air this Monday night on CBS. The second season of the show starts on TBS June 12 and the cable network is trying to get the show some attention. In return, CBS can plug their shows on TBS.

I'm afraid The Bill Engvall Show is one of those shows that has escaped my radar, though I did see one clip from an episode that was actually pretty funny. I don't think that running an episode on CBS is going to make me watch the show that night, but I have to admit that this news did at least remind me that I should check out the show this summer and see how it is.

One of the greatest -- and most resilient -- characters in the history of Saturday Night Live is making a comeback. Or maybe he's just taking a paycheck. Mr. Bill is the star of a new MasterCard debit card "Priceless" commercial. He's going to depict how even someone like Mr. Bill is tough enough to survive the rough financial times in which we live, just by using his MasterCard debit card.

The new 30-second commercials will begin airing on June 9, showing Mr. Bill as a typical guy heading in to work at the office. Naturally, along the commute, he stops for coffee and Mr. Hand scolds him accidentally. At the gym, he's catapulted off the treadmill. Later, an briefcase opens and launches him out the window. Naturally, through it all, Mr. Bill endures. Being made of clay has its pluses.

Writing this post had me pondering how I feel about commercials. In short, they really don't bother me.

Since I write about TV and movies, I have a work-related TV in my office, and I use those few minutes here and there to slam through some work or get caught up on whatever show I'm recapping. In fact, while watching commercial-free shows on HBO and Showtime, I actually miss those little interludes.

But, apparently, Fox hasn't been peering through my window, because at their upfront presentation yesterday morning, they announced their "Remote-Free TV" idea. Two new dramas, J.J. Abrams' Fringe and Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, will air with reduced network commercial breaks -- just five minutes per hour, or about half the usual.

Invented a new product that you'd like to pitch to millions of sports fans? Think you could pack all your thoughts into one second? Got a hundred thousand dollars kicking around?

Didn't think so.

According to Reuters, NBC (they're airing Super Bowl XLIII in Jan. '09) is expected to announce that the starting rate for a 30-second spot during the big game will be $3 million. Wow. That factors out to a hundred grand per second. Last year's going rate was a mere $2.7 million.

While I'm sure this comes as no surprise (I mean, c'mon - the rates jump every year, don't they?) to the big companies known for their Super Bowl commercials (think Budweiser, Coke, Pepsi, Fed Ex, etc.), it still makes you wonder how some of these smaller random companies can afford it. Every year there's some new Internet start-up you've never heard of and they'll end up having one of the most talked about commercials - like GoDaddy.com from a few years ago. It just seems like a real gamble. Rather than put all of your footballs in one field (eggs in a basket, get it?), I would think that spreading your money over numerous smaller ad campaigns would make more sense.

There is an interesting little bit over at the NY Times about research the Disney-ABC Television Group is working on. That research involves inserting multiple commercials into ad breaks for the online versions of their prime time shows. Well, you had to see this one coming, right?

It's understandable that they would want to increase the revenue from the medium. Just as it's understandable that if it's a success we'll see the other networks follow suit. But, they do need to be careful that they don't chase those fans they do have away by annoying them. Although, admittedly, I would not be one to complain about more Rachel Specter commercials.

If you're at this site, that means you love television, and if you love television, you have some pretty strong opinions when it comes to its content, its history, its future. So let's fight about it.

After the jump are five opinions/ideas that I have. You're probably not going to agree with me on some of them (or any of them), but I think they're a great jumping-off point to get some arguments intelligent discussions going. Be warned that the following contains opinions that are probably going to tick you off and maybe even some that will make you think I've lost my mind.

Remember that song, "Everything Old Is New Again"? Well, it's true. In the old days of broadcasting, it was typical for the host of a show to appear during the hour or half-hour doing a live commercial endorsing the sponsor of the program. That old idea is being re-invented and ABC will soon announce that Jimmy Kimmel will be doing live spots on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Call it the ultimate in product integration, if you will, but it's just one more way for advertisers to guard against DVR watchers zapping through the commercials or live viewers clicking to another channel. And if they're smart, they'll make the commercials clever enough to be worth watching. The live ads will launch in May.

Well, here's something about reality TV that didn't make me gag. Survivor mega-producer Mark Burnett has a new unscripted project, greenlighted by CBS, called Jingles. It's a competition show in which contestants have to create tunes for products, commercial jingles. No mud wrestling, no unlocking keys to puzzle pieces the size of boulders, no eating slugs wrapped in wild boar bacon. This time it's all about catchy melodies, clever hooks and lyrics that incorporate product info whether the products an erectile dysfunction pill or a new luxury car.

You know how television networks have been trying to convince advertisers that personal video recorders are good because they get people to watch more television, which means they're exposed to more ads? Yeah, it turns out watching more TV only helps advertisers if people don't skip past the ads.

Advertising Age reports that Information Resources Inc has announced the results of a 3-year study which seems to show that people who have a PVR in the house are less likely to buy packages goods, particularly brand name packaged goods.

A handful of brands did see increased sales, and the study suggests that brands that spend money on non-TV advertising will do better. Big surprise there. But the study raises a question for TV lovers, if people love TV, but prefer to skip commercials if they have the opportunity, how do we encourage networks to continue producing high quality programming? I'm not quite ready to say this study predicts the end of free broadcast television as we know it. But it certainly ain't helping.

[via Gizmo Lovers]

Oscar turned 80 last night. For eight decades, Hollywood has been handing out gold statuettes for the best in motion picture arts and sciences. Sadly, last night's show will not have to worry about winning an Emmy. Not only was the show pedestrian, long and uninspired, it was also a bomb in the Nielsen overnight ratings. In fact, it was historically disappointing: averaging just 32 million viewers to become the least watched Oscar telecast ever! EVER, people!

Of course, if you're worried that with ratings so bad, some day the Academy Awards won't be broadcast -- don't. The Oscars, like the Super Bowl, make a fortune for the network broadcasting it. ABC made an average of $1.8 million for each 30-second spot.

Are you kidding me? In a bold new way, ABC has come up with a way to keep viewers from fast-forwarding through the commercials! Okay, it's only in the video-on-demand universe (VOD), but it feels like what was once a convenient, fast way to catch up on episodes of your favorite shows is now going to be invaded with ads you cannot avoid unless you walk out of the room.

In a move they're touting as a win-win, ABC/Disney announced today an arrangement that "allows local affiliates to participate in the fast-forwarding disabled VOD offering." The network agrees to provide episodes of their top shows for use in local advertising supported VOD services as long as those operators agree to disable the "fast-forwarding" capability so viewers can't zap through the commercials. There'll be ads inserted, both local and national, but not as many as the on-air broadcasts of shows like Ugly Betty, Lost and Desperate Housewives.

Earlier this week we told you about the Big Brother controversy, when a contestant, Adam, referred to autistic individuals as "retards," and how John Gilmore of advocacy group Autism United, had demanded an apology from the network. Now comes word that his group's influence has resulted in a major advertiser, Lowe's, pulling its commercials from Big Brother.

Lowe's Karen Cobb explained to Adweek, "Once it was brought to our attention, we decided not to advertise [on Big Brother] further." During the February 13 episode, a Lowe's commercial did air, but according to Ms. Cobb, Lowe's does not routinely advertise on this reality show and will not in the future.