‘SPLIT :30’ ADS A HOT TOPIC

The television viewing public is about to be bombarded with something called the “split :30,” which could mean television shows will be cluttered with twice as many commercials as before.

The “split :30” simply means inserting two 15-second commercials instead of the traditional 30-second spots. That doubles the number of commercials within the same time frame and leads to broadcast clutter.

“The primary reason that split :30s are now the hot media topic is that the cost of television time has accelerated at an alarming rate, while advertising budgets have remained stagnant or grown at a slower rate,” Marcella Rosen, senior vice president, N.W. Ayer, said Monday.

Rosen, addressing the National Assn. of Broadcasters 63rd annual convention in Las Vegas, said the television networks were performing “an act of self-destruction” by switching from 30- to 15-second spots, “moving inexorably toward more clutter and more public dissatisfaction” at a time when networks were losing audience to cable, VCRs, independent programmers and syndication.

The ad agency executive pleaded for network restraint, citing research by J. Walter Thompson and ABC that found, among other things, “As viewers believe they see more advertising, they become more negative toward it.”