[Kunst]

Have to wonder if the ad decision by OFCOM was a factor in the axing of Hollyoaks from C4 - don't know if broadcasters were tipped off ahead of the announcement but as ratings have fallen for Hollyoaks so have the number of ads - and the ad load in the 6pm hour is very light compared to what it used to be (when it was one of their higher rating primetime hours, with a young audience too!)    As much as I didn't agree with the 50% increase if non-news content can't be supported by ads around the edge of primetime it's no surprise broadcasters may scale back on commissioning it.   

I think it was a factor too in Neighbours being axed - although back in it's peak Home and Away always had full adds around it at 6pm as C5 grew stronger in other hours of primetime the ads disappeared, which ultimately means playing to a smaller audience on 5Star with ads (possibly still with two internal ad breaks) compared to no ads on C5 meant moving it makes sense.  Then Neighbours went from a fully ad supported 5.30pm slot to limited or no ads around the 6pm airing, and was then deemed unprofitable.

Of course there are ways around this and I think ultimately a medium will be struck with probably an increase to 9 or 10 minutes an hour over primetime rather than 12 - which should protect both news content and non-news content within primetime too without being too detrimental to the viewing experience.


P.S.  One thing I wish they'd addressed is the ridiculous kids channel anomoly of shows which are 30 minutes not being permitted a break, so broadcasters have extended them to 31 minutes instead.    If anything that means kids are having to sit through more ads and promos around programmes which are 20-22 minutes long just to flesh out that extra minute.

Agree, that's why I was pro-relaxing the laws.

As for children's content, it's not so easy: don't forget kids channels are also shown in Ireland, which is in the EU, and so on