Number of Television Advertising Messages

Here are some benchmarks regarding the number/length of television advertising messages in prime time and late night programming in the United States.  The study is from Kantar Media, May 2010.

                                   Network Ad Messages in Minutes:Seconds per hour

Print Time Network:      14.20

Unscripted Programs:    14:26

Scripted Programs         14:16

Late Night Network (Kimmel, O'Brien, Letterman) 16:23

In addition to the traditional paid television spots, brands also frequently appear in television programming.  The measure number of brand appearances in television advertising are:

Prime Time Network:     10:55

Unscripted Programs      19:42

Scripted Programs         6:59

Late Night Network       11:58

When you combine brand appearances in programs (paid and unpaid brand appearances) and traditional television advertising, the totals are astounding:

Total Network Ad Messages (:30, :15, :10, Product Placement etc.)

Prime Time                  25:15

Unscripted                   34:08

Scripted                      21:15

Late Nite Network        28:21

Source: Center for Media Research study on Brand Appearance Time in Network Television