Ad placing in US Shows on Sky1

With OFCOM's removal of the 'Twenty Minute' rule last September, can anyone explain why Sky1 are still not using the US fade-outs for placing some of their ad breaks.

They are still making a dog's dinner of ad placement, with fading out the soundtrack and cutting into scene changes.

Surely, technically it's easier to take the breaks when the show fades to black, than trying to make it look like a natural break with heavy handed cutting?

Because the commercial channel can only have an average of 12 minutes of commercials per hour over a 24hr period, so if they show more in Lost they'll have to drop some somewhere else.

Channel 4 were pulled up for this when they were airing the first two seasons of Lost as Ofcom decreed their adverts were too close together what with it being aired in a 65min slot, sponsor bumpers, spot breaks and clusters of ads around the beginning and end of the broadcast slot.

In any case the average length of most hour-long prime-time US programming is only about 40 minutes without the advertising.



Yes but American programming crams more advertising slots in it than British programming, and commercial pressure and rules on advertising sometimes force their hand. If you're going to show 12 minutes of advertisements in a show, an average of 4 minutes per block, you need three of them. Putting them too close together generates complaints, putting them too far apart loses revenue. Sometimes there is no option but to force a break.

Derek's point though is now the 20-minute rule has gone (although officially the previous rule did allow for breaks to be put at the natural point in imported programmes anyway), why are Sky still putting the ads at points when a scene or two earlier/later they cut be put in at the US break junction.

It's pretty noticeable during 24. The clock normally would signal the start and end of the ad break but Sky1 often seem to insert commercials between scenes making the clock beeping rather pointless and out of place.

My point exactly.

they have lots of ad during live wwe wrestling show raw on sky sports practicaly every ten mins..