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The IT Crowd was actually aired on Channel 4, not the BBC. Channel 4 is publicly owned (for now…) but is fully funded through adverts. The ad break timings like

The IT Crowd was actually aired on Channel 4, not the BBC. Channel 4 is publicly owned (for now…) but is fully funded through adverts. The ad break timings likely don’t match what you have in the US though (at the start and end and a single break in the middle over a 30 minute runtime).

Jaruzel 4y ago
Fully funded? I was under the impression that they get a small slice of the licence fee?
- NavigatorPaper 4y ago
  They have a remit [0] for what content to create, but don't receive any licence fee [0] https://www.channel4.com/corporate/about-4/what-we-do/channel-4s-remit https://www.channel4.com/corporate/about-4/what-we-do/channe...
- comprev 4y ago
  Only the BBC gets money from the license fee. Part of the strong objection to the license fee is that BBC’s international arm already is a huge cash cow, so BBC UK could still remain ad-free.
- oakesm9 4y ago
  No, they are fully funded by adverts and licencing their programmes to other channels and platforms. See the 4th question in this FAQ: https://www.channel4.com/corporate/about-4/operating-responsibly/freedom-information/frequently-asked-questions https://www.channel4.com/corporate/about-4/operating-respons... There's been a fair bit of misunderstanding around Channel 4 since Nadine Dorris (ex Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) aanounced plans to sell off Channel 4. A lot of people never reaslised it was publicly owned and then assumed it was the same model as the BBC, but with some adverts.
- isthisnametaken 4y ago
  S4C (Sianel 4 Cymru, Channel 4 Wales) receives some licence fee funding (partially via the BBC making programmes for it), but it's a separate entity to Channel 4
rkangel 4y ago
If you watch an NFL game on Sky there are a load of breaks where they cut to a UK analysis crew. Every single one of those is an ad break that they have in the US but not in the UK. Sky does still has ads, but clearly far far fewer than the US is willing to tolerate. NFL is an extreme example but I always found the comparison interesting.
- mh- 4y ago
  For those wondering: a 30 minute slotted network show in the US is 21-22 minutes long. A 60 minute is simply double - 42-44 minutes long. How many breaks this works out to varies by show, since they try to cut it at strategic points. Usually 2-4 per 30 minutes. If anyone has actual data on this I'd love to see it. Especially historical data.
  - ConchParabola 4y ago
    In 2019, it was 14-18 minutes of explicit advertising per hour depending on the network and the genre (https://www.statista.com/statistics/1025656/ad-time-primetime-national-tv-on-cable-networks-us/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1025656/ad-time-primetim...), up from about 13-16 minutes per hour in 2009 (https://time.com/96303/tv-commercials-increasing/ https://time.com/96303/tv-commercials-increasing/). "Bumpers", network identifiers, and other content inserted by the airing network that is not ad space sold to a third party are not included in all of the counts. Local (as opposed to national) advertising time is also missing from some of these datasets. Overall, the duration of scripted US television shows is now approximately 40 minutes per hour: http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/commerciallength.htm http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/commerciallength.htm Other ways television advertising has increased over time: Number of ad breaks. In the 1950s and early 1960s ads were aired before and after shows, often with the host of the show doing the ad reads for one or two products that were billed as the show's "sponsors". A break for ads in the middle of the content was added in the mid-1960s, and the number of breaks per hour increased at least into the 1990s. https://ibuzzle.com/television-advertising-history https://ibuzzle.com/television-advertising-history Number of ads per break. Television ads have gotten generally shorter over time. 30 seconds became the norm during the 1970s. From 2009 to 2019, the percentage of ads that were 15 seconds long increased from 35% to 42% (https://time.com/96303/tv-commercials-increasing/ https://time.com/96303/tv-commercials-increasing/). Amount of paid product placement inside the shows. In 2009, product placement occupied between 5.5 minutes and 19.25 minutes per hour, with unscripted shows the highest (https://www.marketingcharts.com/television-9434 https://www.marketingcharts.com/television-9434). Spending on television product placement has increased since then (https://www.marketingcharts.com/cross-media-and-traditional/sponsorships-traditional-and-cross-channel-226796 https://www.marketingcharts.com/cross-media-and-traditional/...). Addition of advertising to previously ad-free platforms. I recall that most cable networks originally did not air ads but cannot find the data to back that up. In 2021-2022, streaming services have increasingly added ads: https://www.marketingcharts.com/television/tv-advertising-226780 https://www.marketingcharts.com/television/tv-advertising-22... In a 2022 survey, 41% of American TV-watching adults felt there were too many ads on television vs. 18-25% for various streaming platforms (https://hubresearchllc.com/reports/?category=2022&title=2022-tv-advertising-fact-vs-fiction https://hubresearchllc.com/reports/?category=2022&title=2022...).

Jaruzel 4y ago

Fully funded? I was under the impression that they get a small slice of the licence fee?

NavigatorPaper 4y ago
They have a remit [0] for what content to create, but don't receive any licence fee [0] https://www.channel4.com/corporate/about-4/what-we-do/channel-4s-remit https://www.channel4.com/corporate/about-4/what-we-do/channe...
comprev 4y ago
Only the BBC gets money from the license fee. Part of the strong objection to the license fee is that BBC’s international arm already is a huge cash cow, so BBC UK could still remain ad-free.
oakesm9 4y ago
No, they are fully funded by adverts and licencing their programmes to other channels and platforms. See the 4th question in this FAQ: https://www.channel4.com/corporate/about-4/operating-responsibly/freedom-information/frequently-asked-questions https://www.channel4.com/corporate/about-4/operating-respons... There's been a fair bit of misunderstanding around Channel 4 since Nadine Dorris (ex Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) aanounced plans to sell off Channel 4. A lot of people never reaslised it was publicly owned and then assumed it was the same model as the BBC, but with some adverts.
isthisnametaken 4y ago
S4C (Sianel 4 Cymru, Channel 4 Wales) receives some licence fee funding (partially via the BBC making programmes for it), but it's a separate entity to Channel 4

rkangel 4y ago

If you watch an NFL game on Sky there are a load of breaks where they cut to a UK analysis crew. Every single one of those is an ad break that they have in the US but not in the UK. Sky does still has ads, but clearly far far fewer than the US is willing to tolerate. NFL is an extreme example but I always found the comparison interesting.

mh- 4y ago
For those wondering: a 30 minute slotted network show in the US is 21-22 minutes long. A 60 minute is simply double - 42-44 minutes long. How many breaks this works out to varies by show, since they try to cut it at strategic points. Usually 2-4 per 30 minutes. If anyone has actual data on this I'd love to see it. Especially historical data.
- ConchParabola 4y ago
  In 2019, it was 14-18 minutes of explicit advertising per hour depending on the network and the genre (https://www.statista.com/statistics/1025656/ad-time-primetime-national-tv-on-cable-networks-us/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1025656/ad-time-primetim...), up from about 13-16 minutes per hour in 2009 (https://time.com/96303/tv-commercials-increasing/ https://time.com/96303/tv-commercials-increasing/). "Bumpers", network identifiers, and other content inserted by the airing network that is not ad space sold to a third party are not included in all of the counts. Local (as opposed to national) advertising time is also missing from some of these datasets. Overall, the duration of scripted US television shows is now approximately 40 minutes per hour: http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/commerciallength.htm http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/commerciallength.htm Other ways television advertising has increased over time: Number of ad breaks. In the 1950s and early 1960s ads were aired before and after shows, often with the host of the show doing the ad reads for one or two products that were billed as the show's "sponsors". A break for ads in the middle of the content was added in the mid-1960s, and the number of breaks per hour increased at least into the 1990s. https://ibuzzle.com/television-advertising-history https://ibuzzle.com/television-advertising-history Number of ads per break. Television ads have gotten generally shorter over time. 30 seconds became the norm during the 1970s. From 2009 to 2019, the percentage of ads that were 15 seconds long increased from 35% to 42% (https://time.com/96303/tv-commercials-increasing/ https://time.com/96303/tv-commercials-increasing/). Amount of paid product placement inside the shows. In 2009, product placement occupied between 5.5 minutes and 19.25 minutes per hour, with unscripted shows the highest (https://www.marketingcharts.com/television-9434 https://www.marketingcharts.com/television-9434). Spending on television product placement has increased since then (https://www.marketingcharts.com/cross-media-and-traditional/sponsorships-traditional-and-cross-channel-226796 https://www.marketingcharts.com/cross-media-and-traditional/...). Addition of advertising to previously ad-free platforms. I recall that most cable networks originally did not air ads but cannot find the data to back that up. In 2021-2022, streaming services have increasingly added ads: https://www.marketingcharts.com/television/tv-advertising-226780 https://www.marketingcharts.com/television/tv-advertising-22... In a 2022 survey, 41% of American TV-watching adults felt there were too many ads on television vs. 18-25% for various streaming platforms (https://hubresearchllc.com/reports/?category=2022&title=2022-tv-advertising-fact-vs-fiction https://hubresearchllc.com/reports/?category=2022&title=2022...).