Those brave souls among us who still watch free-to-air television will know that there is a lot of advertising on commercial networks. Stations are currently allowed to broadcast
13 minutes of “non program material” per hour between 6pm and midnight, an amount somewhere between a butt-tonne and a fuckload.
The suits at the
Seven Network, however, have declared that such constraints are unreasonable and outdated. Though Seven already enjoy the biggest share of advertising dollars in the current TV market,
Mumbrella report that they would like to be able to sell viewers even more stuff between blips of
The X Factor and
Dancing With The Stars.
In recent times, all of Australia’s major commercial networks have been accused of “pushing the boundaries” when it comes to advertising. For instance, earlier this year, Seven were found to have breached guidelines during the broadcast of their INXS telemovie Never Tear Us Apart, showing 27 minutes and 50 seconds of advertisements over a two hour period.
Seven’s reality contest series House Rules is also notorious for filling up its running time with commercials, as is Nine’s singing showdown The Voice and Ten’s Masterchef. In a statement released this afternoon, a spokesman for Seven said that “the current rules are a little out-dated and this is really just about allowing more flexibility in scheduling advertising.”
“We would not envisage any significant uplift in overall advertising minutes out of the changes,” he continued, presumably while trying to stifle a maniacal laugh. Australia, take heart – soon you will no longer have to worry about pesky home renovation shows and Tween singing contests getting in the way of your ad breaks.
Photo: Greg Wood via Getty Images
