ABC to Trim TV Program ‘Clutter’ : Broadcasting: Studies indicate that too many commercials, promotional messages and program credits alienate viewers.

The ABC program “Max Headroom” a few years ago featured as its star a computer-generated talking head that existed in a world where information was communicated by evil network executives through “blipverts,” nanosecond messages imparted to the subconscious.

Now viewers of ABC may feel like blipverts have invaded the prime time schedule in the form of an increasingly common phenomenon in television: the commercial marathon.

Between recent episodes of “Full House” and “Home Improvement,” viewers were subjected to no fewer than 16 commercials, promotional messages and program credits over a six-minute and five-second span, some as brief as five seconds.

Fortunately, unlike “Max Headroom,” overexposure to blipverts did not cause “Full House” fans’ heads to explode. But if viewers believe that the barrage of commercials and other announcements is at least cause for a slight video migraine, they would not be alone.

Madison Avenue, the funnel of television revenue, has called upon the broadcast and cable TV networks and program syndicators to cut down on the endless stream of commercials and announcements collectively known in the industry as “clutter.”

It appears that ABC may finally be getting the message, so to speak: At a meeting with its 210 affiliates in Los Angeles that starts today, the network will announce plans to curtail clutter by reducing commercials and promotions.

“The situation has gotten to the point where we are doing ourselves harm,” said Alan Wurtzel, senior vice president of ABC Television Network group. “And this is cheapening the value of (commercial) exposure.”

Two recent advertising studies show that non-programming time has risen to an average of 13 minutes and 41 seconds per hour among the three networks and Fox in prime time, an increase of 40% since 1983.

That includes commercials, local station breaks, promotional spots for upcoming shows, public service announcements and program credits.

Ironically, as much as ABC wedges commercials, promos and other announcements between its shows, it is regarded as one of the least offenders of the practice.

According to the Television Commercial Monitoring Report, Fox has by far the most non-program time of the four networks--14 minutes and 54 seconds per hour in prime time. NBC is next with 13 minutes and 51 seconds, followed by CBS at 13 minutes and 37 seconds and ABC at 13 minutes and four seconds.

Although those levels have increased significantly in recent years, especially since 1988--when the National Assn. of Broadcasters dropped a provision in its industry code limiting commercials to six minutes per hour in prime time--it still pales by comparison to cable and syndication.

Until recently, there wasn’t much evidence to suggest that loading up on commercials turned viewers off. The networks could--and did--insert more commercials and other announcements with impunity.

But Bozell Inc., a New York ad agency, recently concluded the first major study that links increased commercialization to viewer disaffection. Bozell found that one additional minute of advertising on high-rated shows increased channel hopping by 19%.

“There is no doubt that increased commercialization encourages channel switching,” said Michael Drexler, executive vice president at Bozell Inc. “Not only is it a turn-off to the viewer, but it reduces the impact of the commercial as well.”

Clutter, however, is caused by shorter ads as well as additional commercial time.

The 1980s saw the advent of the 15-second commercial, which accounts for about 45% of all prime time ads. In addition, it is not unusual for networks to promote several shows in one promo spot, essentially multiplying the number of messages contained in one spot.

The result is an assault on the senses that some experts fear may undermine the effectiveness of the medium as a vehicle to communicate an advertiser’s message.

Viewers are finding it harder to remember the commercials and other messages they’ve seen, noted Robert Kent, assistant professor of marketing at Temple University in Philadelphia.

In one study, Kent found that recall scores on commercials fell 25% when competing advertisers ran commercials in the same half-hour program. “Even if you hold the number of ads constant, but change how many competitors are present, the scores fall dramatically,” he said.

As a good-faith effort, ABC recently announced that it will reduce by 15 seconds per night the amount of non-program material in its prime time schedule. Kent called such gestures “meaningless” in the scope of the clutter problem.

But to Madison Avenue it signals that ABC may actually begin to cut back and “clean up” clutter. How ABC and the other networks, which are expected to follow, will do that remains unclear. But two likely targets are promotional spots and credits.

“After Hollywood people and their moms, I’m not sure how many viewers are interested in sitting through a long roll of credits,” Wurtzel said.

The Clamor Over Clutter

Since 1983 the amount of non-program time on the networks during primetime has increased an average of 41% to 13 minutes and 41 seconds per hour. This has caused advertisers to worry that their messages are getting lost in the barrage of commercials, promos, credits and other announcements that are increasingly being squeezed into programs.

Prime Time Non-Program Time per Hour (In minutes and seconds)

1991

Fox*: 14:54

NBC: 13:51

CBS: 13:37

ABC: 13:04

Data for 1985 and 1990 not available.

* Programming began in 1989

Source: 1991 Television Commercial Monitoring Report

Clocking the Clutter

Ad agency BBDO Worldwide found 16 ads, announcements and program credits in a 6:05-minute break between ABC shows “Full House” and “Home Improvement.”

Programming Length “Full House” credits 0:11 Polaroid ad 0:15 Pizza Hut ad 0:15 Cover Girl ad 0:30 ABC prime time promo 0:50 “Full House” credits/ 0:30 “Good Morning America” promo ABC prime time promo 0:20 Local news promo 0:30 “Jeopardy!” promo 0:05 American Express ad 0:15 Lottery ad 0:10 Local news promo 0:05 “Home Improvement” credits 0:69 Louis Rich ad 0:30 Eureka vacuum ad 0:15 Total time 6:05