NBC Is Cutting Back on Commercials

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In line with a new advertising strategy by companies like Viacom and Turner, NBC (owned by Comcast) will reduce the amount of commercials played during its perennial Saturday Night Live by 30% starting next season.

Turner Broadcasting System Inc., or TBS, is in the process of reducing the amount of ads played on its networks, like TNT and TruTV, by 50% in the upcoming months. Viacom, which owns networks like Comedy Central, VH1, and MTV, has also stated that it will be cutting back on advertising time as part of a new strategy.

“As the decades have gone by, commercial time has grown,” said SNL creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels in a statement. “This will give time back to the show and make it easier to watch the show live.”

The decreased ad time will mean that the show will have more time for program content, both live and pre-recorded, as well as more specialized content from those advertisers who will remain on the show. It is still undetermined whether the cost of these advertising slots will go up once they become more scarce.

NBC, along with the other networks, are hoping that they can start a new trend on the commercial front, cutting down on advertising time in a bid to make their content more appealing to a customer base that has been in the process of converting to purely-digital streaming (with less ads) for years now. Whether this strategy will work for them remains to be seen, but this is undoubtedly a good thing for the fans, who will get to enjoy uninterrupted programming at a level that hasn’t been seen in years.

[H/T] <a href=“http://deadline.com/2016/04/saturday-night-live-ad-load-reduction-1201742996/“>Deadline</a>

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Bill Tressler

Bill is a writer and comedy enthusiast from New York. An avid gamer and podcast fan, he strives to always toe the line between charming irreverence and grating honesty.
Bill Tressler
Bill Tressler
Bill is a writer and comedy enthusiast from New York. An avid gamer and podcast fan, he strives to always toe the line between charming irreverence and grating honesty.