Broadcast - Commercials Per Hour? Segue 'Bumpers?'

PumiceT wrote on 2/7/2005, 7:17 AM

I'm working on a documentary that may end up being shown on television. It is more likely to be shown in Europe than in the USA, as the band is pretty popular in Europe, and not so much here. Anyway, is there a relatively standard amount of commercial time per hour of television, or is it completely based on the specific channels themselves?

Someone told me 47:20 is "normal" for an hour long program. Is this right? Should I produce the video to be 48:00 and edit accordingly if any broadcaster needs me to?

Would they want 'bumpers' (before and after commercials) to be included? I don't think I'd produce the publically released DVD to have these interruptions, but I would imagine they'd like to have something to segue from commercial to the program, right?

Does anyone have experience with this kind of stuff?

Comments

TheHappyFriar wrote on 2/7/2005, 8:52 AM

The length of time depends completely on the show & varies a little. But, how are you airing the show? Are YOU finding sponcers/commercials to put in? Is the station paying you $X per Y hours? Is it a barter where you get 50% of the commercial time & the station get the other 50%?

All this will help answer that question.

Bumpers also look nice. If you have commercial breaks that are 90s+ I'd recomend you put a "we'll be back after these mesages" 5s bumper so that the station can put it in the middle of the commercial break.

Also, make a format sheet that gives a rundown of segment times, commercial times (you & local), total running times, etc. That REALLY makes the control room guy happy (which I was for a while).

Jay Gladwell wrote on 2/7/2005, 9:19 AM

What you need to do is find from the initial, primary broadcaster what his requirements are. Anything else is irrelevant. The broadcaster will tell you what he wants/needs.

[EDIT] Most docs simply use a fade-out going to commercial and fade-in coming out of a commerical.

Jay

Spot|DSE wrote on 2/7/2005, 9:28 AM

You're about right with the time, but keep in mind it varies. We're usually required to provide a teasers for upcoming bits of the show. 2 teasers are almost always required for the sort of work we do. Sometimes they're inserted, sometimes not. This is where a couple of the teaser templates we've got on the VASST site came from.

vlad618 wrote on 2/7/2005, 10:44 AM

The broadcaster will let you no what the requirements are when they pick up the show. Each will have different requirements that will depend on a number of factors. Maximum allowable commercial time varies from country to country and even within countries - some allow less during prime time than other dayparts. And each network has it own standards as to the number or commercial breaks, use of bumpers, etc.

Since you feel that the market is more likely to be Europe you should probably plan on making the program longer - and make notes of material than can be deleted if you make an American sale. The US version will likely be the shortest version you will be required to do.

Keep good notes as to places where commercial breaks would be possible, areas that could be shortened, etc. The reality is that you will probably have to do a slightly different versions for each country. One easy method is to have flexible closing credits. Pick a song that can be faded in or out of easily and have a couple of different versions of credits. If you need 2:00 to fill you use a longer version, if it's only 30 seconds you use a short version.

Remember to keep the basic elements, veg files, etc. so that you can easily go back and do some minor editing later. You might even consider keeping an international version on hand - that is one without any titles, separate narration tracks, etc. It is sometimes much easier to make a sale when you can easily make an English version French for example. You can't change the band's musical pieces but you do have control over everything else. You will get more for a language specific version than one that has to be subtitled and if you've set it up properly in advance it will require very little work to accomplish.

PumiceT wrote on 2/9/2005, 6:18 AM

Thanks all... I guess as the project gets closer to being "done," I'll look into shopping it around if the band is interested.

If the program is picked up for $xxxx.xx (whatever amount), should I be pushing to get a cut of that money, or should I just be happy with my income from editing, etc.? I suppose I'd be able to ask for a fee for making appropriate changes to adjust for broadcast, and that'd be my "share." Not to mention having my name (and "production company") listed in the credits.

PDB wrote on 2/9/2005, 6:52 AM

Well finally a topic which is within the realm of my professional activity: I work in media planning and buying of advertising space In Spain....

So here goes on the general outlines as regards commercial space on TV.

There is a European directive which establishes the maximum advertising airtime permitted per hour of broadcast. That translates to a maximum of 20% per hour (ie 12 minutes) and the total amount per day must not exceed 15% of the total broadcast time. On top of this there is time dedicated to channel self promotion which further cuts the amount of time dedicated to actual programme broadcast. Country laws must abide by the directive, though they can be even more restrictive, or indeed self imposed by individual broadcasters. The BBC in the Uk for example allows no advertising at all; similarly other channels establish shorter time stretches dedicated to advertising per hour. (as used to be the case in Spain with the national run tv stations.

So even if there is an overall restriction, the actual length of programming per hour can and will very much vary not only within each country, but also will do so depending on the time of day etc...
I guess what I'm actually saying is there is no simple answer (IS THERE EVER?)