Excessive TV ads
When so many commercials are packed in the commercial breaks within a program, viewers end up unable to recall the products advertised.
Daily TribuneWhen so many commercials are packed in the commercial breaks within a program, viewers end up unable to recall the products advertised.
Partylist Representative Rodante Marcoleta is seen by many as the country's watchdog against anomalies in the broadcast media industry. He is known for having successfully opposed, and for good reason, the issuance of a new legislative franchise to the ABS-CBN broadcasting empire.
Last month, Marcoleta was set to investigate the suspicious merger of ABS-CBN and the TV5 network, but the merger did not push through.
Withal, Marcoleta should now focus his attention on the GMA Network which operates television channel 7.
Broadcast networks which are members of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas are covered by the federation's ethical standards. Among the restrictions imposed on KBP members is a limitation on the volume of advertising spots a television station may air during every broadcast hour.
Under existing KBP rules, a television station cannot air more than 18 minutes of advertisements (more popularly called commercials) for each hour of actual broadcast operations.
According to the KBP, too many television commercials within a broadcast hour ultimately renders each of those commercials less effective. When so many commercials are packed in the commercial breaks within a program, viewers end up unable to recall the products advertised. There is also the likelihood that when there are too many advertisements within a commercial break, viewers may be enticed to switch to other TV channels with less commercials.
In fine, too many commercials will be unduly prejudicial to sponsors who spend big money on their television advertisements.
The 18-minute cap imposed by the KBP actually protects advertisers because their commercials are given substantial quality exposure on television, and a good chance of being remembered by consumers who watch TV.
That ceiling on commercial overloading advanced by the KBP is supported by a study of the Philippine Association of National Advertisers, the Philippine Survey and Research Center, and Icon Added Value.
Be that as it may, the cap on television commercials also protects the TV industry from the network owners' expected desire for enormous profits.
Television networks derive their huge profits from the revenues realized from advertisements aired in their programs. Network owners, however, must realize that there is a limit to the volume of commercials a viewer can take.
Too many commercials within a broadcast hour will inevitably discourage even regular viewers from watching television completely altogether. When that happens, less sponsors will be inclined to advertise on TV, which will translate to less revenue for the network. In the end, there is the likelihood of employees getting retrenched, and the TV industry itself collapsing.
Thus, there should be a reasonable limit to the volume of commercials a television network may air every hour. That way, TV patronage remains a pleasant experience for viewers, and advertisers can get substantial-quality exposure for their commercials.
All KBP-member networks abide by the 18-minute advertising cap.
The GMA Network used to be a member of the KBP, but it resigned from the federation in September 2003. Since then, GMA does not limit the volume of commercials aired within its television programs.
As a consequence, many people are upset about the endless array of commercials in GMA's regular afternoon and primetime television programs. In instances, more than half of the broadcast hour is possibly devoted to commercials.
The Constitution recognizes that the broadcast media and the advertising industry are imbued with the public interest. That is enough reason for Congress, through the initiative of Representative Marcoleta, to enact legislation limiting the volume of television commercials that may be aired during every broadcast hour.
Legislation limiting the volume of television commercials will easily pass judicial scrutiny because it is a content-neutral type of regulation and not a content-based one.
Pending the enactment of that vital law, the National Telecommunications Commission should issue a directive to the same effect to all television networks, because the Commission is mandated by law to regulate television broadcasts in the public interest.