surviving

in an era of corporate sponsorship and commercial breaks, survivor has employed the corporate sponsorship to achieve a positive outcome for the viewer. the last commercial break ended at 8:46 pm, at which point the returned to the program, followed the characters in their last group deliberations. they boarded their raft and took off for tribal council. just as i was expecting another commercial break, they cut to the council. after another ten minutes of debate, the votes were cast. once again, i expected a commercial, but there was none. they tallied the votes, caryn was asked to leave and the show was over.

i'm really impressed how survivor does not attempt to utilize these moments of tension in order to guarantee their sponsors eager eyeballs. instead, they cater to the viewer and offer immediate satisfaction.

compare it to the american idol results show (wednesday nights 9 pm) that cuts to commercial every 3 minutes or so...

so which would you prefer? sponsorships like pringles with survivor trivia vs. our american idols making ford commercials that cut into paula's most emotional weekly television moment.