Wirth, W., Schemer, C., & Matthes, J. (2010). Trivializing the news? Affective context effects of commercials on the perception of television news. Mass Communication and Society, 32(2), 139-156.

This study examined whether affect induced by television commercials influences the perception of news programming. An experiment showed that viewers in positive moods generated by television commercials perceive news stories viewed both after and before watching the commercials as more entertaining, relaxing, realistic and as more credible than viewers exposed to neutral commercials do. Interestingly, viewers in positive mood, as compared to neutral mood, perceived the topic presented in the news story as less important and serious.