What Happens to Television Ratings during Commercial Breaks?

We study television audience levels during commercial breaks by recalibrating the people meter to produce second-by-second ratings. The audience levels show a surprising amount of change, not just during commercial breaks and between programs but also during programs. As expected, television ratings drop during commercial breaks, but only by 5 percent. This drop varies by program type and length, with movies being the biggest audience losers during advertising breaks while soaps barely change their ratings. Furthermore, it appears that characteristics of the commercial break, such as number of ads in the break and length of ads, have an affect on the ad break ratings, but they are not substantial. Lastly, it is evident that viewers appear to sense the timing pattern of ad breaks and their ad-avoidance behavior is dictated somewhat by this sense of patterning.