Did I Miss Something?

Did I miss something, or when did we, the television viewers of the world, decide that it was okay for the networks to cover a quarter of the screen with advertising during the programs that we are trying to watch. I mean, I understand that advertising is a big part of television. Some go as far to say that the the customers of television are the advertisers and the product is the viewer, and I can go along with that.

All that aside, enough is enough! I already pay way too much to get my sports, Simpsons, and Jeopardy! On top of that, over a quarter of the time that I spend watching programs is filled with commercial advertising. On top of that, we deal with product placements and the like, some subtle and some not so subtle. Now I find that more and more time is spent watching advertising over top of the programming. This is stuff that actually covers up the thing I am trying to watch. I don't get it. Even worse is the fact that these are almost always of the form "On Now ... " and "Later ..." things that aren't even paid for by advertisers. Now why would I want to stay around to see what's on later if it's going to be covered by more advertising? Isn't this defeating the purpose? Maybe no one really cares. We've become so trained to look around advertising that we are unfazed when it is there in our faces.

I want my TV back!