I may be the most hated man in television. And you have never even heard of me until right now.
Let me explain. Every night around 7:22pm when Alex Trebek stands in front of that giant blue wall of monitors on “Jeopardy!” and says: “The Final Jeopardy clue is…8th Century European Seamstresses…the answer after the break,” I’m the guy who shows up during the break. And every break before and after that.
Yup. I am a commercial producer. The most hated man in television. Well not exactly. I’m actually, a promotions producer.
The difference is subtle. By now you know the commercial producer very well. He’s the fella that screams, “FOR JUST THREE EASY PAYMENTS OF 19.95 PLUS EIGHT BUCKS FOR SHIPPING YOU CAN HAVE THIS LOVELY SET OF GINSU KNIVES! WATCH AS THEY SLICE STEEL JUST AS EASILY AS THEY JULIEN FRIES! AND IF YOU CALL IN THE NEXT TEN MINUTES, YOU CAN HAVE YOUR VERY OWN GINSU CUTTING BOARD…ABSOLUTELY FREE!!! JUST REMEMBER FOLKS, WE DON’T ACCEPT C-O-D’S.”
That’s not me. Not quite anyway.
I’m the guy who says, “WCNC is the greatest television station in the history of the planet and you really need to watch us tonight at 11 because the information we are disseminating is absolutely vital to the lives of you and your family.” Sounds a little corny and over the top to you, right? Well, I believe every word of it.
We do stories at WCNC that affect you daily. Compelling stories. And I think we do it better than anybody else in the business. It’s my job, to make sure you see those stories.
You couldn’t IMAGINE how much time my colleagues and I spend everyday trying to read your mind. What do you like, what do you dislike, what do you eat for breakfast, what music is going to perk up your ears, what word is going to trigger something in the recesses of your brain that may hook you into one of our shows. Basically, I’m paid to be a mind reader. It’s challenging, it’s frustrating, it’s nearly impossible…but I love every minute of it.
And I only have 15 seconds to engage you. Think about that…15 seconds! That’s hardly enough time to tie your shoes let alone make an emotional impact that’ll stick with you for hours or even days. I also know you’re not always paying attention to me. It’s OK. I understand. Commercial time is snack time, family time, bathroom time, diaper changing time. That’s my challenge...and it’s a boat load of fun.
So next time Alex leaves you with a cliffhanging clue and fades to black giving you a chance to get up for a box of Cheez-Its and a cold beverage, just take 15 seconds and remember me: the most hated man in television.
Nice job Jason! You do a great job and as a result people love you!
Jason, I definitely do not hate you. I just dislike having three or four minutes of commercials every ten or twelve minutes. In a one hour program, there are approximately 20 minutes of commercials. The best investment I've ever made as far as televisions and everything electronic that goes with them is a DVR so that I can start watching a one hour show 20 minutes after it starts and forward through all those pesky ads! My husband and I occasionally watch reruns of Match Game from the 1970's and back then they only had 2-3 minutes of commercials during a 30 minute show!!
We don't have an opportunity to see your work at WCNC because we don't receive the signal, but have seen your work before and love it. Thanks for a good job.
I never hated you Jason, It was those damned Thanksgivings with shrimp. "Shrimp, man" is what I still hear in my sleep.
Nice Blog
Nobody hates you, Jason. It's just that we the Jeopardy-worshippers can't stand to have our Trebek taken away for even 15 seconds....
jason..ok...everybody's showing you the love..but you are right, we ALL hate you...everyone else is lying. Thay hate commercials too. I hate you. I hate commercials. I hate all commercials...especially that one for the headache rub medicine...where they keep repeating "Head-On...Head-On...Hea...." and then the person walks in on the screen and says "I hate this commercial but I love the product..." Did you have anything to do with that? I hope not for your resume's sake. Just kidding man..you cant help what you do. Keep up the good work dude!!