UK NEWS

EXPECT MORE ADVERTS TO DISRUPT FILMS ON TV

IRRITATING: Ads will be shown every half an hour under the new agreement

Friday July 25,2008

By Louise Barnett, Consumer Editor

VIEWERS will have to put up with more frequent interruptions from adverts when they watch films on TV.

Commercials are to be shown every half an hour instead of 45 minutes under a new agreement.

It means a two-hour film will have up to four breaks instead of three.

In addition, the ban on adverts during half-hour documentaries and religious programmes will also be lifted.

Regulator Ofcom announced the changes yesterday after a review which provoked an angry response from viewers.

Jocelyn Hay, founder of the Voice of the Listener and Viewer, said: “I think viewers will not like the change.”

Mediawatch-uk director John Beyer said: “Ofcom have obviously given way to the demands put up by the independent TV sector. But most viewers will not welcome this.” The maximum length of all commercials shown during TV shows and films will remain capped at 12 minutes an hour, so breaks will be shorter but more frequent.

But Ofcom will consult on whether more commercials should be allowed later this year. It says the rule requiring at least 20-minute breaks between adverts during TV shows other than films will also be scrapped and it will allow commercials to be slotted into imported US shows at the points designed for a break.

Viewers tend to pay less attention during long commercial breaks, which makes the slots cheaper for advertisers.

Instead of watching the adverts, viewers often wander off to do other things. National Grid spokeswoman Dovanna Rizzo said demand for electricity increases during advert breaks as viewers switch on lights and kettles.

“At the commercial break there is always a surge in demand for electricity because obviously it is ample opportunity to go off and do something you have been meaning to do,” she said.

Martin Stott, head of regulatory affairs at Channel Five, said Ofcom’s changes were good for viewers.

He said they would allow commercials to be inserted more sympathetically around programme content.

“This is a relatively modest change. It brings advertising regulation up to date and it serves the interests of viewers,” he said.

Ofcom’s changes will come into force on September 1. The consultation on possible changes to the amount of advertising on television will start this autumn.