Tezzbuzz Desk- The government has made a big change for the TV watching audience. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has abolished the nearly 20-year-old rule limiting the duration of advertisements on TV channels to 12 minutes every hour. After this decision, TV channels may get more freedom in showing advertisements than before. However, this does not directly mean that every channel will now be able to show any number of advertisements every hour, because the system applicable under the new rules and other regulatory provisions will also be important.
This 12-minute limit was imposed in 2006 under the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994. Under this, a maximum limit of 12 minutes of advertisements being shown every hour on TV channels was set. Of these, about 10 minutes were earmarked for commercial advertisements and 2 minutes for the channel's own promotion i.e. self-promotional content. Now the government has decided to remove this nearly two decade old provision. The government argues that after 2006, there has been a huge change in the television and media sector of the country. At that time the number of TV channels in India was around 62, whereas now this figure has increased to more than 900. Apart from this, digitalization of cable TV has been completed and viewers have many options like DTH, Cable TV, HITS and IPTV. In such a situation, the government believes that the old rules need to be changed according to the current media ecosystem.
According to the ministry, advertisements are an important source of earning for TV channels. At the same time, there is no such uniform 12-minute limit on the duration of advertisements on digital media platforms. The government believed that this was creating a disparity in competition between traditional TV and digital media. The removal of the 12-minute limit may allow TV broadcasters to manage their content and advertising slots more flexibly. However, the most direct impact of this decision may be on the viewer experience. Advertisement breaks between TV programs may become longer if channels increase advertising slots. Due to this, viewers may have to watch more advertisements than before during a movie, serial, news program or live sports. Broadcasters, on the other hand, say that advertising revenue is used for content creation and channel operations.
This decision has come at a time when there was a long-running legal dispute regarding the limit of TV advertisements. There have been several cases pending in the courts regarding the rules related to the 12-minute limit. After the implementation of the new decision of the government, what effect it will have on the related regulatory provisions will also be important. At present, the decision to remove the 12-minute limit will be effective from the date on which the amendment made in the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994 will be notified in the Gazette. That is, until a formal notification of amendment is issued, the new system will not be considered fully implemented. In the coming days, it will be important to see how TV channels use this new freedom and what impact it has on viewers.