I'd like to pipe in to say that I have exactly the same viewing pattern. A commercial at the beginning or end of the break has a couple of seconds to hook me on entertainment value before I start skipping. It may very well behoove networks to start charging a premium for the commercials placed at the beginning or end of each break (if they do not practice this already). Does anyone have info on whether placement of the commercial within the break (as opposed to where the break happens within the show) affects pricing for advertisers?

I think I've had too much exposure to .NET recently. Did anyone else read that headline as "Writing Generic Code"?