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One could accurately say that the commercials during a traditional half hour television program are 50% as long as the show itself.

Sometimes statistics lie, but more often they tell the truth in a fashion similar to a math test where every problem is designed to trick you.

Actually, a 22/8 split is the norm, making a half hour slot 26.6% ads.

Or with this split, one could say the commercials were 36.4% as long as the show.

DirecTV leases a Tivo, allowing subscribers to skip the ads. Walk the dogs and buffer. FF the ads. DTV gets margin on Tivo.

I do not know the situation in the US, but there is a legal maximum of 12 minutes of advertising per 60 minutes in Europe, which boils down to a legal max of 20%. 50% seems unrealistically high.

Or the programming is only the real content and ads are not content -> 50% of 20 minutes is 10 minutes.

If ads are not programming then they are zero percent of the programming, by definition.

If you see three birds and four squirrels in your backyard, are the birds 75% of the squirrels? (Are the squirrels 133% of the birds?)