Another reason not to watch TV - more ads!

Submitted by David on Thu, 2007-05-17 18:25

The CRTC limits the amount of advertising on broadcast TV stations to 12 minutes per hour. According to CBC, in September the limit will become 14 minutes, and the limit will continue to be raised each year. Do you think that stations will increase their advertising to these limits? Will it affect your TV viewing habits? I've been watching too much TV lately...

Comments

Ryan

Thu, 2007-05-17 18:31

Only 12-14 minutes of advertising? It seems like a lot, but if you look at the actual length of TV shows, they run well under 45 minutes, including intros. Heroes runs for ~43 minutes, stargate and BSG run for a little less. I wonder how they would explain the time difference.

David

Thu, 2007-05-17 22:56

That was one thing that occurred to me as well shortly after I posted this.

Thoughts: Perhaps the limits don't apply to cable (and a lot of programming is imported from down south)? Maybe it doesn't include segments reminding you of the station that you're watching? Are they forced to include community/charity stuff? (advertising fundraisers for charities, event calendars, showing pictures of foliage from around the city) If they're averaged some shows might have fewer ads than others?

I've recently finished watching Season 1 of Remington Steele (from the 80s) that I borrowed from my folks back in BC, and that was showing up at about 48 - 49 minutes (although that includes a minute or two of preview up front). Definitely a bit longer than today's shows.

Roger (not verified)

Fri, 2007-05-18 01:29

I own Remington Steele seasons 3-5. Currently, I"m halfway through Season 2.

Scott

Fri, 2007-05-18 09:32

I can pretty much guarantee most stations will take advantage of the increased limit and show more ads. Many networks are already showing ads alongside the closing credits; usually the ads take up the most space and the credits are impossible to read. A few networks have been experimenting with speeding up "non-important" parts of shows.

I expect that cable stations won't be affected by this, and neither will US stations. As long as they don't start editing the content of shows to make them run in less time.

My viewing habits have already been affected by having a Media Center. Sometimes I don't bother watching live TV, or I can't because I'm working, so I catch up during breakfast the next day and skip over the commercials.

David

Fri, 2007-05-18 13:07

... skip over the commercials.

This is the part of the equation that makes me wonder if we'll be seeng increased product placement or the overlay-on-bottom-of-screen advertising styles rather than an increase in the time devoted to pure advertising.