Costs of TV Advertising appear between shows, but also interrupt them at intervals. This method of screening advertisements is intended to capture or grab the attention of the audience, keeping the viewers focused on the television show so that they will not want to change the channel; instead, they will (hopefully) watch the advertisements while waiting for the next segment of the show. However, remote controls have now made it easier for audiences to "tune out" advertisements simply by allowing them to turn down the volume or even switch channels when the advertisement comes on. Also people tend to do other things while the advertisements are on, while waiting for the program to resume. Additionally, television recording mechanisms such as DVR and TiVo have also allowed viewers to skip advertising completely during television programming.

Entire industries exist that focus solely on the task of keeping the viewing audience interested enough to sit through advertisements. The Nielsen ratings system exists as a way for stations to determine how successful their television shows are, so that they can decide what rates to charge advertisers for their advertisements.