India: Twelve minutes that will change IndianTV

 new regulation that limits TV advertising to 12 minutes per hour will come into effect from October 1. A primer on how the different genres of television will be impacted.

Fewer ads, more programming. Television viewers are bound to look forward to the new regime that will be ushered in less than four months from now when the TRAI's (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) notification takes effect. Known in the business as the 10 + 2 ad cap - 10 minutes for ads and two for channel promotions - broadcasters, agencies and advertisers are furiously debating what the notification on Quality of Service (Duration of Advertisements in Television Channels) will mean.

The squeeze has already begun. From June 1, all channels have been asked to limit advertising to 30 minutes per hour. From next month, it will drop to 16 minutes for all channels except for those in news who will be permitted 20 minutes of ads. It finally drops to 12 minutes per hour for everyone on October 1.

Not each genre of television content will be impacted in the same way, believes afaqs! Before you begin reading about the nature of the impact, two points to note: one, a channel which is part of a large network will be less hurt by the ad cap than one which is an independent, everything else being equal. Two, the leaders in each category will suffer less than the also-rans. Now, read on.  http://www.afaqs.com/media/story/37719_Twelve-minutes-that-will-change-Indian-television