Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| Excessive advertising during the SBS baseball drama "Stove League" has angered viewers. Courtesy of SBS |
By Lee Gyu-lee
The SBS baseball drama "Stove League" has raised viewers' eyebrows by allocating excessive product placements and commercials during and in between the episodes.
The issue arose when the latest episodes aired on Friday and Saturday. SBS announced on Wednesday that it would break a one-hour episode into three, instead of two, and run commercials in between, starting last Friday.
When the episodes aired, many viewers started leaving comments on the program's website criticizing the increased commercial time.
One user wrote: "The commercials in between the episodes break off the storyline and bring down the quality of the drama."
The broadcaster explained, "We are trying different ways to manage the program schedule, as mobile users are growing and their consumption pattern is changing."
However, viewers took this merely as an excuse to gain profit by adding more commercials to the increasingly popular drama.
As well as the in-between commercials, viewers also pointed out the heavily emphasized product placements, claiming such heavy-handed placements made the show uncomfortable to watch. At least four brands were awkwardly woven into Saturday's episode alone.
"I had to ask myself if I was watching a commercial or a drama," a user wrote on the program's website. "The crews, writer, and actors are working hard on the drama; please don't ruin it with advertisements."
"Stove League" started with 5.5 percent viewership, but its rating grew to above 17 percent last weekend as word spread of the quality acting and compelling storyline.
