Adverts Limits and Standards on TV

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   Nathanvilleposted 3 years ago

   Notwithstanding the fact that we don’t have Adverts on the BBC, in the UK Advertising is limited under British Law, as Regulated and Enforced by Ofcom, to the following:-
   
   •    The overall average amount of time allowed for ‘Adverts’ on British TV in a day is an average of 7 minutes per hour.
   
   •    The maximum number of minutes allowed for ‘Adverts’ on British TV between the hours of 23:00 and 18:00 is 12 minutes per hour.
   
   •    The maximum number of minutes allowed for Adverts’ on British TV during ‘Prime Time’ (18:00 to 23:00) is 8 minutes of Adverts per hour.
   
   I think there are similar restrictions across Europe; not so sure about other parts of the world, including Australia, but I get the impression from previous discussion with Americans that’s there’s far fewer restrictions on Advertising, Sponsorship, Product Placement and Standards etc. than in the UK.
   
   For example, Advert Standards in the UK are heavily Regulated by the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority):  https://youtu.be/0xjTJoLklvs
   
   I’d like to learn more from your personal knowledge experience from your ‘neck of woods’ (country)!

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      tsmogposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      First, that would fall under the Federal Communications Commission's authority. However, they do not regulate online streaming, which, yes, some do have commercials. For instance when I watch Free YouTube movies they have commercials, but within moments you can skip them. But, having watched streaming at my brother's there are no commercials.
      
      As far as the FCC rules and regulations you can take a peek at the link below and then with table of contents select 'Business Practices and Advertising'. The only thing I could find limiting time of commercials is with children shows limited to 10.5 minutes per hour on weekends and not more than 12 minutes per hour on weekdays. One thing that was/is a hot topic is how loud commercials are compared to the aired show. You will see that at that section mentioned.
      
      https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/public-and-broadcasting
      
      One thing is here in the hours after say 2am there are infomercials where the the whole 1/2 hour or hour program is an advert. It could be anything from how to manage your investments, make money selling real estate, improve your health, benefits of solar energy, and even our utility company has one that is meant to inform on advancements with fire protection. Usually the aim is to use their service or buy their product. Also, our Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) relies on donations and they have commercials for that where they offer things like CD collections at a price as a donation method or club membership.
      
      I kinda' watch TV and read most of the time. The pattern is kinda' 10 or so minutes of TV show then 3 - 5 minutes advertising. A peek shows average per hour is 17 minutes commercials. Take a peek at the Statista 2019 for major corporations owning broadcast channels.
      
      https://www.statista.com/statistics/102 … tworks-us/
      
      And, there are restrictions of what cannot be advertised. For instance tobacco products are prohibited. Alcohol products are advertised, yet are by best practices by the networks. One thing is they tend not to advertise the process of drinking the product, but focus on the product itself.

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         Nathanvilleposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Wow, in the USA “The pattern is kinda' 10 or so minutes of TV show then 3 - 5 minutes advertising. A peek shows average per hour is 17 minutes commercials.”   That would drive me bonkers.
         
         In the UK, typically you’d get 2 or 3 minutes of adverts about once every 20 or 30 minutes.  The most famous advert break being at 7:30pm ‘Coronation Street’ on ITV (popular British soaps) ends at the same time as ‘EastEnders’ on BBC (another popular British soap); but unlike Coronation Street, EastEnders being on BBC doesn’t have any Adverts in it, so when it ends millions of people rush into the kitchen at the same time to put the kettle on – a phenomena the National Grid calls a ‘TV Pickup’ e.g. sudden surge in demand for power at the end of a popular TV show.
         
         Britain peak power demand (TV Pickup): https://youtu.be/slDAvewWfrA
         
         Yes, likewise tobacco is banned from TV Adverts in the UK, along with other products including as from the end of this year a ban on TV Adverts for junk food between the hours of 5:30 am and 9pm; designed to protect children.  The ban on TV adverts during the daytime will include products such as chocolate, burgers, soft drinks, cakes, sweets, ice cream, biscuits, sweetened juices, crisps, chips and pizzas:  https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new- … od-obesity
         
         Like you, we also have ‘Streaming Services’ and the Internet of course e.g. YouTube - and we also have ‘Catch-Up TV on Demand’; which is a free service, with the adverts stripped out.
         
         We do subscribe to Netflix because they’re subscription fee is modest and they do provide a lot of quality productions. 
         
         However we do mostly stick to the TV channels, via Virgin Media (cable TV).  The alternative in Britain are Sky (satellite TV), and or Freeview (terrestrial TV).  And most of what we watch on TV we pre-record and then watch it at our convenience (rather than watching it live), which means that we can then skip over any adverts.
         
         In Britain every TV sold is legally obliged to have ‘Freeview’ built into it.  Freeview is (as the name suggests) a free service that provides most of the popular TV Channels, and is idea for anyone who doesn’t watch much TV.
         
         Freeview is a joint adventure between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky TV to provide a free service to the public.
         
         Freeview Play:  https://youtu.be/cJSlAfCYhSo
          
         SKY (satellite TV) and Virgin Media (Cable TV) both offer similar services for similar subscription costs; and it doesn’t really matter which you subscribe to as both give you a box that you can [re-record programmes to (for later viewing) and both offer the same range of TV channels.
         
         The only advantage of subscription TV over Freeview is that with subscription TV you get the premium channels.
         
         CATCH-UP ON DEMAND TV
         Regardless to which platform you use to get you get your TV channels e.g. Freeview, Virgin Media or Sky; the BBC, ITV, C4 and C5 all offer catch-up on Demand, which allows you to watch at your convenience ‘free of charge’ and ‘advert free’ most of the programmes they’ve aired on TV in the last couple of weeks.
         
         How to Use Catch Up on Virgin TV V6 box:  https://youtu.be/D-qwyKpvbBo

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            tsmogposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Interesting! Similar to the 'Freeview' built in some of our modern TV's come with streaming service programmed in them. I got a TV from my brothers for Christmas to replace my ancient JVC 27" CRT TV. Yes, I am a caveman as mentioned elsewhere not having a cell/smart phone either.
            
            Anyway, it came with streaming services programmed in it. But, I get my TV shows through my cable service - Cox Cable. I have to pay for that and there are plans to choose from offering more and more channels and naturally the price goes up. See link below for the channels offered. The starter service offers 75 ($50/37 pound) and the ultimate offers 250 channels. I have an ancient one not offered any longer with maybe 40 channels.
            
            Cox Plans (Note: Does not show the Ultimate plan with 250 channels)
            https://coxcablespecial.com/tv?gclid=EA … gKOdvD_BwE
            
            Cox Channel Lineup
            https://www.cox.com/residential/tv/channel-lineup.html
            
            I have only one cable service to choose from, yet the competitors are satellite services - Direct TV. Yet, my brother in another city some twelve miles away cable service choice is not the same. It is Spectrum.
            
            However, you can get TV channels for free with an antenna of some sort. With an inexpensive in home one near my window I can get about 7 channels, yet they are junk stations. I live some 30 miles from the transmission antennas on the coast with rolling hills between us. But, in San Diego proper and on the coast they get a better selection of channels like the main local ones.

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               Nathanvilleposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Yep, as well as Freeview, streaming services such as Netflix are also programmed in the modern TV’s (Smart/Internet TV). 
               
               In the UK there is only one satellite company (SKY TV) and one cable company (Virgin Media) to choose from; so in the UK it’s a question of whether to choose Sky or Virgin – albeit not much difference between the two in price or what they offer.
               
               I note with interest that you can only get about 7 junk channels with an indoor antenna (aerial).
               
               For Clarity, in the UK:
               •    Satellite = Sky TV
               •    Cable is Optic Fibre Cable = Virgin Media (Cable TV)
               •    Antenna (Aerial) = Freeview – free TV
               •    Internet = Streaming Services e.g. Netflix.
               
               And of course, these days all new TVs come with the capability to connect to satellite, TV aerial (antenna), optic fibre cable and the Internet (also optic fibre).
               
               Thanks you for the two links, the first was very informative, but the latter wouldn’t give me access because I’m outside the area!  So I found another link that provides a channel listing for Cox Cable TV, link here -  https://www.cabletv.com/cox/channel-lineup
               
               I had a scan down the channels listed, and recognised a handful as being familiar; Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, History, SyFy, QVC and PBS America!  I might have missed a few, but it looks as if we don’t have many TV channels in common.  I somehow imagined that there would be more.
               
               Returning to your 7 free junk channels available on your antenna (aerial).  In Bristol where I live, I get 142 free channels on Freeview via our antenna (aerial).  The 142 free channels, for my area, includes 80 Entertainment channels, 8 children’s channels, 6 news channels, 12 HD Channels, and 33 Radio Stations.  A full listing of all Freeview channels available is in the link below:-
               
               https://www.freeview.co.uk/corporate/pl … fessionals
               
               Comparing packages offered by Cox Cable, with the packages offered by my Cable TV Company (Virgin Media):-
               
               Virgin Media’s cheapest deal is £33 ($45) per month for:-
               
               •    54 Mbps Broadband Internet
               •    100+ TV Channels.
               •    Free weekend calls anywhere in the UK on your landline phone.
               
               Then there’s about eight other packages to choose from; their premium package being £89 ($121) per month for:-
               
               •    1 Gig Broadband Interment (1000 Mbps).
               •    Smart phone with unlimited use.
               •    230+ TV Channels
               •    Free phone calls anywhere in the UK, any time, on your landline phone.
               
               For more details:-
               https://www.virginmedia.com/broadband/p … lsrc=aw.ds

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                  Nathanvilleposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  Addendum:
                  
                  In the UK, most of the 142 free channels that you get from Freeview are also available on Satellite (Sky) and Cable (Virgin Media) TV; so if you subscribe to either Sky or Virgin Media your monthly subscription fee is really for the premium channels.
                  
                  In my case I subscribe to Virgin Media specifically to get access to the 11 Sky Cinema Channels and the 7 UK TV Channels.
                  
                  The 11 Sky Cinema Channels, available on Sky and Virgin Media are; Premiere, Hits, Greats, Disney, Family, Action, Comedy, Romance, Thriller, Sci-Fi and Horror, and Select.
                  
                  The UK TV network company, imaginatively called ‘UK TV’, also available on Sky and Virgin Media, have 7 TV channels, plus ‘UK TV Play’ which is their catch-up on demand service, their 7 channels are currently named:-
                  
                  •    Alibi - dedicated to British crime drama
                  •    Dave – features popular British comedy hits.
                  •    Drama – focuses on the best of British quality Drama and comedy drama.
                  •    Eden – dedicated to British natural science programmes e.g. nature programmes by David Attenborough.
                  •    Gold – Best of the British Comedy Classics.
                  •    W – entertainment documentary channel focusing on British talent
                  •    Yesterday – Quality British Documentaries.
                  
                  BBC & ITV, C4 & C5, as part of their license agreements with the UK Government are prohibited from broadcasting repeats e.g. they are expected by the Government to always be producing new material of quality.  So once they’ve shown a show live, they’ll put it on their ‘catch-up on demand’ streaming service for a few weeks, and then lease the production to the UK TV network and other TV companies around the world; plus of course sell them on Blu-ray (DVD).
                  
                  The other channels in the UK, like UK TV have no such restrictions in their licence agreements with the Government, so they can repeat the shows as often and as frequently as they like.

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                  tsmogposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  I see their marketing plan are pretty much the same. For interest I have a bundle program for internet service, cable TV, and my landline. I got this bundle ten years ago. Like I mentioned earlier my cable TV service is no longer offered, which is called Basic. Today, you may have noticed they are all called Contour something. I pay $45 (33 pounds) for that. I get say 40+ stations. The main networks stations of course and then the others, which some are okay, some obscure like C-Span broadcasting legislators in congress, and then there are channels with TV shows from as far back as the 70's westerns to early 00's.
                  
                  My internet service is called preferred with speed up to 150 Mbps, 1.25TB, and Cox security, which is McAfee costing $77.99 (57 pounds), but I get my router from them too because of the service agreement.
                  
                  My landline is basic at $20 giving me local calling, so I pay by the minute for outside of my area code, which is rare and not really expensive. I do have an option, which is World Wide Int'l Plan so I can call Sweden where my Dear friend lives for $4/Mth (3 pounds). So, total is $24 (about 18 pounds) Note: The Int'l Plan is fantastic as it is dirt cheap to call Sweden. It is $0.07 / minute for land phone and $0.22 for cell phone. Normal price is $2.95 / minute.
                  
                  To me Virginmedia offers better service for the buck especially with the amount of channels offered seen with the entry level bundle being 145 channels.

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                     Nathanvilleposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     I concur, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of similarity between the packages and the way they are marketed in the USA and UK.  My package with Virgin Media ‘Bigger bundle + Movies’ just lists the elements included but not an itemised pricing for each individual element, just the overall price for the whole package; so I don’t know for example how much the landline, or the Internet etc. themselves cost me.   With my current package the Broadband Internet speed I have is 362 Mbps.

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               Nathanvilleposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               I can be a bit of a dinosaur at times too e.g. I didn’t finally upgrade to a smart phone until last summer.  However, when it comes to TV’s and their sound system, then as it’s something the whole family spends a lot of time watching, when it’s time to get a new TV I do like to get the latest and best Model.
               
               In 2019 our old 50 inch plasma died (12 years old), so after a lot of research, I bought the 55 inch version of the TV featured in the video below:-
               
               Samsung Q90 4K LED TV:  https://youtu.be/BJGKw9Q-kjU
               
               And for the sound, coming from the Hi-Fi era, when sound quality was everything, I find the TV’s speakers (even in the best TVs) give an inferior sound, so (although a sound bar would be an improvement) for our system I’ve hooked our TV up to an old Samsung 7:1 surround sound system that a friend gave us years ago – so it’s rather cool with speakers behind us, and in each corner of the room, when a helicopter swoops across the screen, it sounds like it’s flying though the room.

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   FireStormingposted 3 years ago

   I think it is a blessing from God that people do not have much advertisement on TV or somewhere else. But does it work on youtube too? Because rn almost in every video you can watch (unfortunately) ads from youtube.
   
   Edit: there is good satire was done on this by "Comedy Central"
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AQPaSJOQ7o&t=105s

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      Nathanvilleposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Cool, I love the comedy script for Comedy Central

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