There’s lots of talk about the future of TV/video advertising. TiVo, BitTorrent, iTunes, podcasts, etc. are killing advertisers. TiVo users fast forward past the commercials. BitTorrent seeders edit out the commercials before seeding the network. TV shows in iTunes have no commercials. Podcasts either don’t have commercials, have quick spots pre-roll (Meet the Press, NPR Story of the Day) or post-roll (Rocketboom).

There’s all sorts of talk about the necessity for ads to be things people want to watch rather than things people have to sit through. And there’s some validity to that.

But here’s the thing. Without commercials I can watch an hour-long episode of LOST in iTunes in about 45 minutes, or listen to an hour-long episode of the Meet the Press podcast in about 50 minutes, or listen to a 30 minute episode of PTI in about 20 minutes. There are some commercials I like to watch (Apple’s stand out as one example), but given the choice I’d absolutely rather NOT have commercials. And if I have commercials I’ll fast-forward through them if given the choice.

Except sometimes I don’t. Boeing has a 15-second spot at the beginning of each Meet the Press podcast, and I don’t fast forward past it. It’s 15 seconds. It’s not worth it. NPR Story of the Day has a quick spot at the beginning from Acura, and I don’t go past it. It’s quick. Not worth the hassle.

So why doesn’t TV go to this format? An hour-long episode of lost goes about 45 minutes. So that’s about 12 minutes of commercials plus a few minutes of opening and closing credits, etc. Instead of having 5 commercial breaks of 2 minutes each (I think the break at the bottom of the hour is even longer), how about 8 breaks of 1 minute each? That’s about 7 minutes of show then a 1 minute break. About 1/3 less commercial time, but since people will watch the commercials more and fast-forward through them less (is fast-forwarding through one minute worth it?) advertisers will still get the same value. Does it interrupt the flow of a show by breaking in 8 times instead of 5 times? I don’t think so. I’m not sure, but I think the quick one minute break is short enough to maintain the flow of the show.

I’m willing to be proven wrong on this one, though. Thoughts?