Television, Radio, Newspapers, and all other commercial media depend on advertising directed at a mainstream audience, they do not want turning-off an option so they prefer content aimed at the lowest common denominator of tolerance. This mechanism is hard to prove or even guess at, but it would be extremely naive to think that it does not exist. It is not state censorship, but a big insult to the already injured art industry. Perhaps it is a necessary side-effect of our highly competitive capitalist consumer culture.

Ian Crowston expressed his concern in a letter to Now Magazine after The Scrambler show was thrown off CIUT:

The advertising I've noticed to me is not a good sign. They may not be the kind of advertisers who will dictate the airplay as much as an all-commercial station. However, it will affect play in some ways if CIUT begins to become a slave to these advertisers for revenue.*

Two digital multi-signal video installations were refused screen-time on a video wall at Square One shopping mall in Mississauga as part of a project that had been negotiated between Square One and Toronto's Public Access artist collective. It was a blatant and therefore excellent example of commercial persuasion at work. Buying Passion, Spending Depression by Krzysztof Wodiczko and Leslie Sharp as well as This is Your Messiah by Vera Frenkel were both deemed by the mall as "offensive to shoppers".