Infomercial

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An infomercial is a form of television advertisement that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of direct response television (DRTV), they are often program‑length commercials (long-form infomercials), and are typically 28:30 or 58:30 minutes in length. Infomercials are also known as "paid programming" (or "teleshopping" in Europe). This phenomenon started in the United States, where infomercials were typically shown overnight and early morning (usually 1:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.), outside peak prime time for commercial broadcasters. Some television stations chose to air infomercials as an alternative to the former practice of signing off, while other channels air infomercials 24 hours a day. Some stations also choose to air infomercials during the daytime, mostly on weekends, to fill in for unscheduled network or syndicated programming. By 2009...

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