In the US, viewers currently have to watch ads worth between 12 and 17 minutes per hour. This means that during 10 hours people would be forced to watch about three hours of commercials.
The next steps are described later this summer
In its report, released Wednesday, Ofcom said: “We are conducting a public survey to better understand attitudes towards commercial reports on programs and views on the potential hedge between exposure to more advertising versus brand within the program. “We are also looking at the rules that determine the frequency and duration of advertising on a television show. “These rules are complicated, with restrictions on public service broadcasters that are stricter than the rules set for commercial broadcasters. “We had initial discussions with stakeholders and we expect to be able to describe our next steps later this summer.”
“Not at all desirable”
Speaking to Mail Online, Conservative MP Giles Watling, who is a member of the DCMS committee, warned that British viewers would simply turn off their TVs if there were too many commercials. He said: “I think people will probably vote on their own if there is a lot of advertising. They may not watch a TV channel that has too much advertising… “If you want to have a lot of advertising, then you have a lot of advertising, but you may not get the results you want. “I think it could lead to the US model, which in my opinion would not be desirable at all.” An Ofcom spokesman said: “We have a number of options to choose from, but before we make plans, we will listen to different views and look at what viewers are saying. “We have to strike the right balance between protecting the interests of viewers and maintaining our traditional broadcasters, which includes helping them compete with American streaming platforms.”
