The hypnotic effects of television watching have been documented by a number of sources. TV has a lull and a repetition to it that leads many people to feel under its spell. TV show creators and commercial producers are aware of these affects. In fact, they try their hardest to harness the power of these effects to make people addicted to their viewing product so that they will return for more. The hypnotic power of what we view on TV is made up of several elements.

Firstly, the sensory experience created by TV watching is crafted with the intention of drawing people in. TV producers use attractive colors to capture the focus of the eye. They create a soundscape that will be memorable and will repeat in a person’s mind throughout their day. The content is not challenging and is served in brief doses so as not to lose short attention spans. The whole of the TV viewing experience is designed to be immersive and hypnotic. It does take a developed skill set to market a TV viewing experience, but the amount of marketing that goes into it is purely for the purpose of making people addicted.

Secondly, TV producers create entertaining content to be delivered in their shows and commercials. This content is meant to entertain, enlighten and inform viewers in order to inspire them to return to watch more. The content may be comedic or dramatic in nature. The content is delivered through the writing, acting, directing and other on screen elements that compose the dialogue and spectacle of the show or commercial. There can be genuine art form to this content creation, but TV producers are always first and foremost focused on hooking their audience.

And lastly, the pacing of shows and commercials does not reflect reality so much as it reflects the kind of entertainment people and their attention spans crave.TV producers know that TV marketed to short attention spans will hold people’s interest longer and hook their viewing audience over and over again. All of these elements combined create an entertainment experience that has a hypnotic effect on the average viewer, which makes them a repeat viewer.

posted in: Uncategorized