We study television audience levels during commercial breaks by recali
brating the people meter to produce second-by-second ratings, The audi
ence levels show a surprising amount of change, not just during commer
cial breaks and between programs but also during programs. As expected
, television ratings drop during commercial breaks, but only by 5 perc
ent. This drop varies by program type and length, with movies being th
e 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 o
f ads, have an affect on the ad break ratings, but they are not substa
ntial. Lastly, it is evident that viewers appear to sense the timing p
attern of ad breaks and their ad-avoidance behavior is dictated somewh
at by this sense of patterning.