“About time they abolished this self imposed licence fee and made them do the same as other channel's.”

“@littlemoaner - not quite sure how you've come to divide the 12 by 5, when commercial TV usually has four three-minute ad breaks per hour; at the hour + 12-15mins, 27-30 mins, 42-45 mins and 57-00 mins.

Technically, yes, if ITV chose to have five ad breaks, then the BBC could have one promotional segment which is longer than a single ad break on ITV.

But those figures are a maximum, and at off-peak times - not peak time. You would never get the '25 minute programme in a 30 minute slot' that you talk about, because the maximum break in any 30 minute slot is 2.5 minutes, even at off peak.

Additionally, as Derby_born says, the breaks are used for programming information only, not to sell anything to you. And there won't be a gap of the same length along 12 minutes later, then another 12 minutes after that

What you're also forgetting is that on top of the 12 minutes of paid-for ads, commercial channels can still run voiceover continuity announcements and trailers for their own programmes.

That's why, if you watch something like Five, the ads are often followed by lengthy trailers. That's because the imported US 'hour long' programmes they rely on can sometimes have an on-screen duration as low as 40-42 minutes, so even after the 12 minutes of ads, there might still be another 6-8 minutes to fill. It's also why they do their very short news roundups just before the hour.

BBC end credits will typically last between 10-30 seconds, depending on the type of programme and time of day - there are different rules for different programmes. There are no rules as such for making continuity announcements during the credits, and it's a bone of contention among programme makers. Though it most often happens if a programme has end credits which are too long for its specified time slot.”

“@Beaurepaire, as I said,commercial channels are "saturated" with adverts. "Saturated" being the operative word here. There was a time when an hour long programme would have four two minute breaks.

On a visit to New York a number of years ago I noticed how the advert breaks would come within one minute of the start of a programme and would be followed by a break every five minutes throughout the programme.
At the time, broadcasters in Britain were saying that couldn't happen here. Well last night I watched a film on ITV which had an ad break after the first two minutes and interruptions continued throughout the film. What is more, unlike the early days of commercial television, there was no warning that an advert break was coming, so when a car (in the film) is seen careering into a police car, and without warning, another car is seen touring Europe with a photographer taking photos of the fabulous scenery! This certainly wrecks the continuity of the movie, and something that does not happen on the BBC.

The BBC put on trailers before a programme starts, just to show what is on offer over the next week, they do not interrupt a programme to tell you about Go Compare or buy a car dot com.
BBC programmes do sell abroad, one example being Doctor Who sells to 27 countries world wide and has 110 million viewers: http://tinyurl.com/7rjf45v

"The importance of Showcase to the BBC's commercial arm is clear. The sales spree brings between £40 million-£50 million ($65 million-$81 million) of revenue, roughly a fifth of BBC Worldwide's total annual earnings from sales and distribution, last year worth $436 million".
http://tinyurl.com/6lq54c2”

“"What programmes are being advertised for overseas broadcast? All I have seen are trailers for programmes available to the UK viewer"

Thats not actually what I said though is it Bob1?
I said they sell programmes overseas - Top Gear and Doctor Who probably being the two most high profile and profitable recent ones
We fund these programmes through the license fee, then the BBC sells them on. Is this correct, you 'could' argue we own through the license fee the rights to those programmes

Onhojo2010
So commercial channels have 12 minutes of advertising per hour, the BBC 3minutes
A commercial channel will have ad breaks through the hour, typically 3 or 4
take the break before programme starts, the one after and the 3 (for arguments sake) in between 12/5 = 2.4minutes each
therefore shorter than the 3 minutes the BBC would have between the programme, which is what I stated, I didnt mention the overall duration of adverts within the programme.
perhaps you could also clarify the rules on the BBC advertising their other products whilst the end title credits are still rolling, as increasingly seems to happen?

As I said I am not against the BBC recieving funding, and this shouldnt be through adverts but Im just not convinced in this modern age with all the diffrent media and channels of watching TV and radio, and with international media that the license fee is the best way to fund it. It was concieved in an era of a single channel black and white broadcast and the principals behind it have never changed despite huge progression in electronic media”

“Note that TV Licence Officers are actually employees of a company called Capita. Capita administer the TV Licence system on behalf of the BBC. They have no powers. All they can do is knock on your door, just like anyone else can. You are under no obligation to say anything to them. You do not have to let them into your house. Talk of search warrants is all made up. No-one has ever been prosecuted on the basis of evidence from detector vans, which are a myth. Prosecutions depend on admissions. No-one has ever been prosecuted for watching TV via the internet without a licence;) There is more information on http://tinyurl.com/7kl32ov or http://tinyurl.com/7mbmgyt”

“Can't imagine what they find to watch ??The Queen's Bodyguard I expect.”

“I have to agree with onnhoj2010. What littlemoaner claims, seems to be to me at least totally untrue.

What programmes are being advertised for overseas broadcast? All I have seen are trailers for programmes available to the UK viewer.

Programmes shown abroad in reduced timeslots are acutally editted down.”

“@littlemoaner - you must have a very dodgy stopwatch because that's just plain wrong.

'Public service' commercial broadcasters (ITV, C4, Five) are allowed up to 12 minutes of advertising per hour, every hour, plus continuity announcements. That's why your '30-minute' episode of Corrie actually clocks in at around 23 minutes on-screen time.

In contrast, the BBC has strict duration rules for its programmes, which are published to programme makers. At peak time programmes can be a maximum of one minute less than the scheduled slot, so up to two minutes in an hour for two 30 minute programmes. Off-peak a maximum of five minutes per hour is allowed if it's two 30 minute programmes, or three minutes if it's an hour long programme. There are even restrictions as to how long the credits should be.

And you're right that BBC Worldwide sells BBC programmes overseas, but its profits equate to about £6 for each licence payer - not some miraculous replacement for the licence fee.

But who do you think pays for commercial TV programmes? You do, by buying products which include a hidden cost to pay for their advertising budgets. Do you have Sky? Even better - companies take money off you to pay for their adverts, then you pay again to watch adverts that your money paid for! At least with the BBC you know exactly how much of your money is going towards it.”

“'advert breaks' on the BBC between programmes, where they are advertising their own products and programmes are actually now longer than the ad breaks on the commercial channels, I have timed them on several occasions
Why?
because the BBC now sells its programmes overseas so they have to fit a time slot, that allows for advertising (25 minute long programme in a 30 minute slot for example)
The BBC makes money off selling these programmes
Is it still right that we have to pay to fund them?
I agree that the standards need to be maintained and that the BBC is a quality service, unmatched by commercial channels. For most people it still represents good value, but the way it's funded does need a drastic re-think”

“"The BBC are the lowest political denominator" - Quite the opposite.

The BBC is (it is a single entity) nothing short of a beacon amid a sea of dross and 'reality' TV shows.

For the money paid the output is nothing short of incredible when you take into account the consistency and level of accountability.

Commercial TV is dragging the level of the common denominator ever downwards. All you need to is watch a few moment of Jeremy Kyle, Loose Women, TOWIE, Zeros Dancing on Ice, X Factor, etc, etc, etc...”