Some have tried to do this, but there is no effective way to identify and mute commercials. They contain no consistent and reliable identifying features. Many commercials are played at a higher volume level, but this is a very inaccurate way to identify a commercial, since the average volume of program material varies. The volume is highly variable within a program: chase scenes, gunshots, and explosions tend to be noisier than dialog. Since commercials carry no identification tag embedded in the broadcast data, a television would need to identify a commercial by analyzing both the video and audio content and comparing this with known patterns generated by commercials. This would be extremely difficult to do reliably. Consumers would reject a monitoring system that had even a modest failure rate, particularly if it muted program material by accident. If there was a way to reliably mute commercials, one or more manufacturers would already have offered such a feature in their televisions, either as an added-cost option or a premium feature. (Imagine tryting to watch a show highlighting award-winning commercials: any system that tried to distinguish content from commercial would have a fit.) ========== Re: Comments concerning the "MuteMagic" (a commercial product). Without reliable third party testing, any claims made by the manufacturers of such products cannot be verified and should be treated with caution. I note that the website for this product claims: "MuteMagic is able to mute commercials with a high degree of accuracy." The phrase "a high degree of accuracy" doesn't guarantee anything in a legal sense nor does it tell us anything about the performance of this product. It sounds good, but says nothing (e.g., 'weasel words'). We should instead refer to both the Operations Guide and Setup Guide for this product: "Disclaimer: MuteMagic is not 100 % reliable at detecting Commercial Breaks, and this should be understood prior to purchasing this product. It may, however, amaze you with its accuracy." I won't be "amaze[d]" unless it mutes 100% of the commercials and passes 100% of the program material. It doesn't work with off-air broadcasts, which leaves out a goodly percentage of the viewing public, and it requires an external microphone, which further complicates its installation.

so that mutemagic thing sounds like a sales pitch... what i do is just buy the full dvd set of my favorite tv shows once the season is over, and then i can watch all the episodes commercial-free. or you can buy individual episodes the day after they air online at amazon.com video on demand. i do this for smallville and supernatural. try hulu.com too - they are 100% free, with about 4 commercials per episode.