The timeline below tracks the seconds of daily airtime in which the phrase "ask your doctor" is visible in the onscreen text. This phrase typically appears at the end of drug and medical device commercials for a second or two, meaning 75 seconds of airtime likely equates to a few dozen commercials. It is important to recognize, however, that this is just one of many phrases used by medical commercials, so these results are not definitive and could reflect changes to the composition of medical advertisers rather than a decrease overall of such ads.
"Ask Your Doctor": How Medical Television Commercials Faded In The Early Pandemic
