What determines the commercials that play and their order?

In general, the process of scheduling television advertising is much more manual than one might think. The negotiations whereby ad time is bought and sold are often complex and relationship-driven. read more

Relationships, price, and other factors determine who gets "prime real estate" within these shows -- as Bobby described, this boils down to the slots that typically have the greatest viewership. Pricing varies throughout the day, which therefore influences what ads are scheduled when. read more

No, afraid not. Since the ads are targeted (on request) by user as well as content, you wouldn't be able to get anything but targeting data for any channel not under sponsorship if Google gave access to the systems, anyway. read more