What does Fox’s new ad time reduction proposal mean for content on TV?
By Shah Shahid
Fox is proposing a new initiative to reduce ad time during the primetime block, but will it help broadcast networks compete against cable, or even the dreaded streaming services?
Deadline reports that Fox is planning to lead the television industry in a proposal that seeks to limit ad-time to two minutes during each prime time hour by 2020. For those that are unaware, the lifeblood of a broadcast television network essentially boils down to advertising, making this a bold plan.
Over the last couple of years, the phenomenon of cord-cutting, whereby regular television or cable TV subscribers are opting out to subscribe to internet based streaming content services such as Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, etc, is creating a sense of panic and concern within the broadcast and cable TV industries. And it’s pretty obvious to see why.
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From an audience stand-point, we have a library of thousands of film and TV shows to choose from though streaming, whenever and however we want, rather than be restricted to watching one thing at one time through the regular cable box. Multiple screens, devices and the concept of on-demand, provide audiences the freedom to consume content how and when they want.
And things are even sweeter from the perspective of creators. The wasteful and soul-crushing ‘pilot season’ isn’t even a consideration for streaming services such as Netflix. Creators can pitch, and be picked up instantly, and have the freedom to tell the story they want, how they want, without the interference of the network, based on weekly Neilson ratings feedback.
And most importantly, creators no longer need to structure 42 minutes of weekly episodic television, to accommodate advertising to be inserted between their shows. A recent Vice article below suggests that ad time per an hour of television has only increased since 2009.
"” Nielsen data suggests that since 2009, ad time per hour on has gone up from 14:27 to 15:38 minutes per hour on cable, and 13:25 to 14:15 minutes per hour on broadcast. “"
Emmy award winning Netflix original show Master Of None, that usually saw a runtime of a typical 22-minute sitcom, featured a second season with actual run times that ran anywhere from 21 minutes to 57 minutes. And the show was all the better for it. This independence to creators and freedom of choice for subscribers is really what’s creating this cord-cutting demographic.
So if broadcast network television companies such as Fox want to limit ad time in the hopes of not losing more subscribers, then that can only be seen as a good thing, especially when it comes to the content they will be creating.
With creators not having to worry about pausing their story 3-4 times per episode, every week, in order to make room for ads, maybe broadcast television will attract, retain and be able to provide the opportunities to create content that competes with streaming services based on an equal footing of qualitative content, than these other annoyances that make streaming services so much more preferable.
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