Can we avoid the ads? part 2

Gary Levin in USA Today brings us up to speed on the glut of ads and promos now overwhelming network primetime television. In the absence of any federal agency to regulate commercial time on television - neither the FCC nor the FTC regulate this - networks are free to put on as many ads as they like. The National Association of Broadcasters, the industry's lobby group, ran a voluntary code up till 1982, whereby commercials were limited "to 9.5 minutes per hour in prime time. But since the code was dropped, the number of commercials on prime-time TV has crept steadily higher." How high? Just about doubled, that's how high.

Across prime-time TV, the number of ads and promos has increased sharply over the years. A typical “one-hour” prime-time series clocks in at less than 42 minutes, down from 44 minutes several years ago and nearly 48 minutes in the 1980s. And shaving off the “previously on …” recap, opening credits and a teaser for next week's episode, Sunday's [Desperate] Housewives ran 40 minutes and 30 seconds, meaning for every two minutes of programming, there's a minute of commercials or promos for other network shows.

This problem runs across the board (or spectrum) and into cable TV as well, where "clutter" on channels such as MTV, USA and Lifetime is even worse. But Levin focuses attention on two of ABC's top shows - Lost and Desperate Housewives. ABC is the worst offender in terms of overloading its shows with ads, studies show - and this is further exacerbated by a recent change in how that network formats its primetime shows.

Until recently, dramas unfolded in four segments, or “acts,” often preceded by an introductory teaser that aired before the opening credits. Starting this fall, ABC required all drama producers to carve up each episode into six portions. For some shows, including Housewives, the first segment runs for nine to 11 minutes before the first break. Once viewers are hooked, they're confronted with four more commercial breaks, each about 3½ minutes long, over the next 45 minutes. To prevent channel surfing, networks increasingly avoid airing commercials between shows. Instead, they save several minutes of more substantial scenes for a show's ending and then move “seamlessly” into the next program.

The last tactic of "seamless" transitions between shows has been adopted by all the networks for some years now. But ABC's strategy overall takes it to a new low. The first time I noticed this new strategy, while watching Lost - one of the very few shows on network TV I try to watch - I was quite annoyed, to say the least. Yet it is surely set to become the norm.

Stepping back for a moment: It is amazing how quickly this problem is manifesting itself. As recently as April 2004, Television Week was excoriating three of the "Big Four" networks for broadcasting more than 15 minutes of "nonprogram'' material every hour during prime time in 2003. It noted then that one network, ABC, had breached 15 minutes per hour. Now ABC is close to breaching 20 minutes per hour of nonprogram material. Just how much more can viewers stand?

I know I'm ready to switch off, even though my wife loves Lost. One friend of ours now refuses to watch the show and has a simple alternative: He's waiting for the DVD to come out.