Isn't it a matter of news being played at clear, easyly recognizable times like 00/30? Whoever wants to hear them fully WILL have to listen to at least few secounds of commercial; it seems like a common pattern to just switch it on some minuted beforehand so as not to spend extra attention to the exact time for switching on. For most people some commercials before news are an absolutely acceptable tradeoff.
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
If continuing the discussion becomes impractical, that means you win at open threads; a celebratory top-level post on the topic is traditional.