"Commercial television in waiting areas"

While I have enormous gratitude for the high-quality care I have received at Sutherland Hospital, I am very troubled by the practice of tuning televisions in waiting areas to commercial stations.  

Some weeks ago, I had a long wait (one hour and twenty minutes) prior to a heart stress test and sat in a very small room with Channel 7 on the screen.  

In my opinion, the melodramatic soap opera was bad enough, but I felt the incessant ads made the experience even more irritating. It was very difficult to read. I recognise that some outpatients want to watch television while they wait, but, in my opinion, why not tune to the ABC (say the News Channel) on which there are no ads?

We are all shareholders in the ABC, but I believe there is another very good health reason for doing this. A great many of the ads broadcast on commercial stations are for foods that are high in fat and sugar and low in fibre. The ads for alcohol and gambling, I feel, do nothing to help patients with still more problems.

I tried to explain my concerns to a staff member where I had to have a blood test. I believe they seemed to think that it would be a great injustice for people who have to wait three hours to have the ABC imposed on them. 

I strenuously disagree with this attitude and wonder whether more senior management has a position on giving free rein to ads that contribute to negative health outcomes.