As always, we will have to wait to see if any of the new dramas and sitcoms the networks have cooked up for the fall will recharge primetime schedules and give affiliates some hope that 2009 won't be the leap off the revenue cliff that it now appears it will be.

Nothing beats great programming in this business.

But presentation matters, too.

Broadcasters—national and local—need to make sure that they present whatever programming they have in the best possible way.

Nowadays, of course, that means high def—the best pictures and the best audio.

And it also means an absolute minimum of commercial and promotional clutter that can distract, annoy and, in the worse cases, chase away viewers.

So, I am encouraged by the news out of the Fox upfront in New York yesterday.

The network is promising to air two news dramas—Fringe and Dollhouse—with dramatically reduced commercial breaks.

“It's a simple concept and potentially revolutionary,” Fox Entertainment Chairman Peter Liguori said. “We're going to have less commercials, less promotional time and less reason for viewers to use the remote. We're going to redefine the viewing experience.”

Both would carry commercial loads of about five minutes per hour, about half the usual, according to Fox. The commercial pods would also be shorter and they would have about half the promo load as well.

It's all a bit of a gamble, I'm sure. The network is betting that by minimizing the breaks it can maximize the revenues by charging advertisers a premium.

Here's hoping the gamble pays off.

Remote-free TV, as Fox is calling it, would really enhance the broadcast viewing experience.

And that would be good new for the affiliates. Even though they are no longer the exclusive distributors of network shows—you can now see them on the Web or cable—they should strive to be the premier showcase of network premieres. That means, among other things, minimizing the interruptions.

Right now, the webcasts of network shows have the fewest commercial intrusions. But that may be changing.

I've noticed that the networks are beginning to load up the webcasts with more and more commercial messages and the breaks are getting longer. NBC always has some sponsor's logo on screen all the time now even when the screen size in maximized.

But, regardless of the commercials loads, the Web is still far from matching the picture and sound of broadcast TV. In the world of Web TV, screens are small, the video quality is only adequate and the playout is sometimes balky.

The broadcast outlets only have to maintain the presentation edge they have over cable. The general entertainment networks are not yet HD and they are being crushed by their own commercial and promo loads.

The Turner networks are particularly annoying. No matter how much I am tempted by the movies they offer, I now surf on past. I have learned that no movie is worth sitting through even one of their seemingly endless commercial pods, especially when I suspect that some of the movie was probably hacked away to make room for the ads.

And many of the cable networks have given into the indiscriminate use of animated snipes that takeover the bottom of the TV screens at the most inopportune moments. Are Turner executives even aware that most viewers have remote controls?

A decade or so ago, the American Film Institute acquired the decaying Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Md., and restored it to its original art deco splendor. It is once again the majestic movie palace it was when it was built in 1938.

The seats are wide and comfy, offering plenty of leg room. It's my guess that the restorers removed some seats so that its patrons could be more comfortable. In other words, AFI risked some revenue to create a better entertainment environment, just as Fox is now proposing to do.

In my experience, the Silver Theatre is the best place in America to watch a movie.

Every affiliate—in every market—should strive to be the best place to watch a network show. Fox's Remote-free TV helps.