Have you ever wondered why you have to sit through advertisements while watching your favourite prime time shows on TV despite having to pay a monthly subscription fee to your local cable operator or DTH provider. It’s not like they are providing you the service for free anyway, like free Apps on your cell phone are free because they get their revenue from advertisers, then why can’t the same concept apply to Pay channels.
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Well the answer is fairly simple, the free to air channels get their total revenue only from advertisers while pay channels get their revenue from a dual source, one part from the advertisers and one half from the cable or DTH operators, who in turn recover it from you in the form of subscription fee. But then who regulates how long an advertisement break can be, what percentage of a program duration can be comprised of Ads. The same TRAI which functions to regulate telecom operators for DOT also regulates the channels for Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB).
The telecom regulatory authority of India (TRAI) has released the details about average duration of Ads that are telecast on commercial channels during an hour of broadcast during prime time 7PM to 10PM. The data released by TRAI is as follows.
Average duration per hour of Advertisements during peak hours (in minutes)
1
B4U Broadband India Pvt. Ltd.
B4U Movies
18.69
2
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
UDAYA MOVIES
17.68
3
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
SUN TV
17.57
4
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
SUN TV HD
17.57
5
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
KIRAN
17.42
6
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
UDAYA MUSICS
17.31
7
E 24 Glamour Ltd
E24
17.22
8
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
GEMINI MOVIES
16.92
9
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
SUN MUSIC
16.87
10
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
SUN MUSIC HD
16.87
11
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
K TV
16.48
12
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
K TV HD
16.48
13
Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd.
SAB TV
16.22
14
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
GEMINI TV
16.21
15
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
GEMINI TV HD
16.21
16
Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd.
SONY TV
16.08
17
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
SURYA TV
15.83
18
Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd.
PIX
15.77
19
Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd.
MAX 2
15.56
20
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
CHUTTI TV
14.98
21
STAR India Pvt Ltd
Movies OK
14.95
22
STAR India Pvt Ltd
STAR Jalsha
14.92
23
STAR India Pvt Ltd
Life OK
14.89
24
STAR India Pvt Ltd
STAR Pravah
14.88
25
STAR India Pvt Ltd
STAR PluS
14.83
26
STAR India Pvt Ltd
STAR Movies
14.69
27
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
UDAYA TV
14.64
28
STAR India Pvt Ltd
Channel [V]
14.62
29
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
UDAYA COMEDY
14.60
30
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
SURYA MUSICS
14.54
31
STAR India Pvt Ltd
STAR World
14.52
32
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
ADITHYA
14.46
33
ASIANET COMMUNICATIONS LTD
Asianet Plus
14.35
34
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
GEMINI MUSICS
14.29
35
Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd.
MAX TV
14.27
36
VIJAY TELEVISION PVT LIMITED
Vijay TV
14.18
37
ASIANET COMMUNICATIONS LTD
Suvarna
14.10
38
ASIANET COMMUNICATIONS LTD
Asianet
14.10
39
9X Media Pvt. Ltd.
9X Jhakaas
13.99
40
9X Media Pvt. Ltd.
9X Jalwa
13.98
41
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd
Zee Marathi
13.94
42
STAR India Pvt Ltd
Fox Fx
13.92
43
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd
Zee TV
13.91
44
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd
Zee Bangla
13.91
No.
Name of the Broadcaster
Name of Pay Channel (Non
News)
Average duration per hour of Advertisements during peak hours (in minutes)
45
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd
Zee Talkies
13.88
46
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd
Zee Cinema
13.87
47
Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd.
AXN
13.86
48
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd
& Pictures
13.83
49
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd
& Pictures HD
13.83
50
NGC Network (India) Private Limited
National Geographic Channel
13.82
51
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
GEMINI COMEDY
13.80
52
Genx Entertainment Ltd
Bindass
13.79
53
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd
Zee Action Cinema
13.76
54
Silverstar Communications LTd
MEGA MUSIQ
13.76
55
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd
Zee Classic Cinema
13.75
56
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd
Zee Café
13.74
57
NGC Network (India) Private Limited
Fox Life
13.73
58
NGC Network (India) Private Limited
Fox Life HD
13.73
59
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd
Zee Bangla Cinema
13.68
60
Discovery Communications India
Discovery Channel Tamil
13.68
61
Discovery Communications India
Discovery Channel
13.68
62
Discovery Communications India
Animal Planet
13.67
63
Viacom18 Media Private Limited
COMEDY CENTRAL
13.66
64
Paul Entertainments Private Limited
9X Tashan
13.63
65
STAR India Pvt Ltd
STAR World Hd
13.62
66
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd
& TV
13.56
67
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd
& TV HD
13.56
68
ASIANET COMMUNICATIONS LTD
Suvarna Plus
13.56
69
Discovery Communications India
TLC
13.56
70
Bangla Entertainment Private Ltd
SONY AATH
13.55
71
Turner International India Pvt. Ltd.
Cartoon Network
13.55
72
Viacom18 Media Private Limited
MTV
13.52
73
Discovery Communications India
Discovery Science
13.50
74
STAR India Pvt Ltd
STAR Plus HD
13.45
75
STAR India Pvt Ltd
STAR Movies HD
13.44
76
Turner International India Pvt. Ltd.
POGO
13.38
77
9X Media Pvt. Ltd.
9X M
13.34
78
Viacom18 Media Private Limited
SONIC
13.31
79
Viacom18 Media Private Limited
NICK
13.21
80
Discovery Communications India
Discovery Turbo
13.16
81
UTV Entertainment Television Ltd
Bindaas Play
13.11
82
STAR India Pvt Ltd
STAR Gold
13.05
83
Raj Television Network Ltd.
Raj TV
13.03
84
Sahara India TV Network
Sahara One
13.00
85
MAA TELEVISION NETWORK LIMITED
MAATV
12.97
86
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd
Zee Studio
12.96
87
MAA TELEVISION NETWORK LIMITED
MAA MOVIES
12.95
88
Epic Television Networks Pvt Ltd
Epic TV
12.94
89
ASIANET COMMUNICATIONS LTD
Asianet Movies
12.92
No.
Name of the Broadcaster
Name of Pay Channel (Non
News)
Average duration per hour of Advertisements during peak hours (in minutes)
90
Genx Entertainment Ltd
UTV Action
12.91
91
Discovery Communications India
Discovery Kids
12.90
92
The Walt Disney Company (India) P Ltd.
Disney
12.87
93
Viacom18 Media Private Limited
COLORS
12.86
94
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
CHINTU TV
12.83
95
United Home Entertainment Pvt Ltd
Hungama
12.81
96
UTV Entertainment Television Ltd
UTV Movies
12.80
97
MAA TELEVISION NETWORK LIMITED
MAA GOLD
12.66
98
Reliance Big Broadcasting Private Limited
BIG MAGIC Ganga
12.42
99
NDTV Lifestyle Limited
NDTV Good Times
12.37
100
SUN TV NETWORK LIMITED
KOCHU TV
12.31
101
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd
Zing
12.13
102
Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd.
PAL
12.12
103
ODISHA TELEVISION LTD.
TARANG
12.12
104
MAA TELEVISION NETWORK LIMITED
MAA MUSIC
12.07
105
MAVIS SATCOM LIMITED
JAYA MAX
12.04
The above figures show that Advertisements comprise between 20% to 35% of the total duration of a TV show aired during prime time on free to and Pay channels. Are you as a TV viewer satisfied by the duration of Advertisements shown during your favourite TV show during prime time? Let us know your views and opinions through your comments below.
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