Have ITV changed their ad break policy?

I have noticed over the past few days on ITV that ad breaks seem to have changed a bit.

Previously promos for coming shows appeared at the start or end of a break, as they do on other channels. This was useful when fast forwarding through an ad break as you knew when the next part of the programme was about to start. It was a sort of cue.



However, now they are putting promos in the middle of breaks with several ads either side - scuppering this plan.

Is this a new tactic to try to make ads more likely to be watched? They are losing advertising money and maybe did need a way to combat the rise of PVRs.

Just seems odd after being so used to the old way of placing programme promos.

Please can anybody complain to ITV and Ofcom and to give a reason why

This has already been discussed in another thread.

This is quite a sensible move for extra revenue if you had something big to advertise that you know people will tune in to see, I can't think ITV have anything special to advertise.

They have to find ways to improve ad revenue and I'm guessing this is one.

I think its wearing off already, because we now know that the promo marks the half way point of the advert, so we still have another minute or two to flick through the channels, make a drink etc. I think everyone knows now, so they'll stop it and be back to square 1.

But if they stop, people might miss the first few moments of the programme.

It may get the advertisers paying a bit of a premium to be the last ad in the break, but surely if the trailers are buried away half way through ultimately less people will know about programmes and ratings will fall.

I think they only should have done it a mixture of both methods, so you wouldn't have known if it was halfway, or the end.

I carry on with fast-forward until I see the programme start again (or the sponsor's ident). If it's the programme I simply wind back slowly until I see the programme start itself - so they are not scuppering my way of avoiding adverts with my Sky+ box!

On an aside, I remember many years ago (about 1990) ITV started doing films on a Friday night after 10:30pm without any adverts at all. I remember my sister and I both saying to each other "there were no adverts, were there?" the first time we noticed. They obviously decided that didn't work and stopped it soon after. So they are often tinkering with the advert placement policy.

Always thought they should do that at night when they screen no ads - in the days before The Mint I thought a weekly "Midnight Movie" slot would work well.


Of course they did used to show movies overnight - but even more annoyingly than commercial breaks they were interupted for fake breaks made up of trailers and PIFs - just to get the sponsor logo in!

I remember on one occassion a couple of years ago when at 12.00am ITV screened a Hitchock movie without any breaks whatsoever, referring to that old problem as you mention. ISTR the continuity announcers even mentioned it within the announcements.

But ever since ITV Play got the 12.00am onwards slot, the regular late night Movies seem to have stopped.

I did a thread about this a couple of weeks ago.

I dont think complaining to ITV and offcom will do any good. I dont think there are any rules which state where in the ad break they put trailers are there? As far as I know they can do what they like.

I will post in here aswell, it's not myself taking posts from digitalspy and posting them onto here. It is an imposter horribly taking my name and adding a 2, something that I myself had to do on digitalspy (due to login problems with fanoftv).

Mark