Study says amount of time for public service announcements shrinking

Published: 2008-01-30

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- If you were to look at a DVD of a half-hour TV show with no commercials, it would clock in at about 22 minutes. An hourlong show wouldn't fare much better -- probably 45 minutes. That includes the opening and closing credits. That leaves 15 to 16 minutes each hour for pitches of one kind or another. Most often the pitches are commercials for products or services. Virtually all the rest of the time is spent on promotions for other network shows that likewise feature another 15-16 minutes of commercials. On average, 17 seconds of each hour -- one-half of 1 percent -- of commercial time is used for public service announcements, or PSAs. Or it would if PSA time were spread out that equally throughout the broadcast day. In truth, nearly half, or 46 percent, of all donated PSAs were aired between midnight and 6 a.m., and the midnight-6 a.m. slot was the dumping ground for 60 percent of all PSAs aired on over-the-air TV. The prime-time hours got just 13 percent of all donated PSAs. This news comes from a new Kaiser Family Foundation report, "Shouting To Be Heard (2): Public Service Advertising in a Changing Television World," issued in January.

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