• Advertising Age, Monday, October 6, 2008 11:30 AM

Are you tired of watching TV shows online with virtually no ads? Well good news! Due to the lack of inventory of shows users want to view on the Web, not to mention the cost of streaming such shows live, networks and distributors are considering breaking the "no more than one commercial per break" rule for TV programs shown online.

The move has actually been under way for months, with ABC conducting tests earlier this year to see how viewers would react to more advertising inserted in streaming TV shows. Said ABC Digital EVP Albert Cheng: "We have to look at how much money we are making per episode on TV vs. the internet. From there, we can start to see what we need to do to make more from an episode viewed on the internet than we do from the same episode on TV."

But placing more ads in the shows could cause problems with advertisers who bought space at the upfronts this past spring with the understanding they would be the sole advertisers in certain programs. That, along with the expected viewer resistance, could push back the initiative until at least next year's upfront.

Read the whole story at Advertising Age »