Nielsen: Network Prime-Time Clutter Surpasses Cable, Hispanic

A new report from Nielsen Media Research appears to refute the conventional wisdom that cable is more cluttered than the broadcast networks. The study, based on an analysis of the non-programming time on major national TV outlets during the fourth quarter of 2005, finds that the seven broadcast networks carried an average of 15 minutes and 23 seconds of so-called clutter--advertising, promos, PSAs, and IDs--during the average prime-time hour, 22 seconds more than the average prime-time hour on cable TV.

Spanish-language TV networks, which also are perceived as being heavily cluttered, prove to have the highest percentage of programming time per prime-time hour, with only 14 minutes and 16 seconds of clutter.

"The mix of non-program content varied significantly across the three media: 31 percent of the non-program content on the Spanish Language networks was dedicated to promotional announcements while cable devoted 17 percent and broadcast 15 percent to promos," found the report, released Wednesday by Nielsen's Monitor-Plus unit.

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The report, an annual recap of all forms of ad spending during 2005, also found another form of commercialization expanding within programming time: product placements. And the biggest contender was, well, NBC's "The Contender," with 7,502 product plugs during 2005--more than twice the branded mentions of the next closest contender, NBC's "The Apprentice," with 3,577 product mentions during the year.

Prime-time Clutter


Minutes:Seconds
Network TV 15:23
Cable TV 15:01
Spanish-Language TV 14:16

Source: Nielsen Monitor-Plus, fourth-quarter 2005 analysis.
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