AAAA/ANA Annual Study Shows TV Clutter Levels Down.

Clutter levels decreased in most major TV dayparts last year–including primetime–reversing a longtime upward trend in the amount of non-programming minutes on TV’s broadcast networks.

The declines were revealed in a joint report by the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) and the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. (ANA) entitled the 2000 Television Commercial Monitoring Report.

The annual study was released today in conjunction with the AAAA 2001 Media Conference & Trade Show being held February 28-March 2 at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside here.

It showed that on average, network television showed clutter decreases in primetime, network news, daytime and late night. Some of the decreases were substantial, such as in network news, where clutter levels dropped from an average 18:53 minutes per hour in November 1999 to 15:28 in 2000. Only two dayparts–local news and early morning–showed clutter increases in 2000 compared to the previous year.

As a result, network news emerged as the least cluttered daypart while daytime–despite a slight drop in clutter compared to the previous year–remained the most cluttered daypart for the tenth consecutive year with an average 20:03 minutes of non-programming minutes in November 2000. The report cited the extensive coverage of the 2000 election as the reason network news edged out primetime as the least cluttered daypart.

One network, ABC, experienced a clutter decrease in prime for the first time since November 1992, while NBC posted the only gain, going from 16:46 in 1999 to 17:15 in 2000, surpassing the record high of 16:57 attributed to ABC in November 1999. CBS and FOX also showed a decline in primetime clutter levels.

“From an agency perspective it’s good news that clutter is down in many dayparts, but the clutter issue remains a serious one that ad agencies plan to watch closely,” said O. Burtch Drake, president-CEO of the AAAA. “It is our feeling that less clutter allows good advertising to get the exposure it deserves.”

The report reveals any increases and/or decreases in clutter compared to the previous year’s study, which may impact the effectiveness of television as an advertising medium. It provides analysis of non-programming content among four major networks, two emerging broadcast networks, 19 cable networks, and a cross-section of the syndication market.

All programming covered in this report was monitored by Competitive Media Reporting (CMR) for two distinct seasonal time periods–May 15-21, 2000 and November 13-19, 2000. Conclusions presented in prior studies were based primarily on the November period because fourth quarter ad spending is traditionally heavier than in other periods. Because the November 2000 monitoring period reflects extended Presidential election coverage, it does not necessarily reflect the more typical weeks of prior monitored periods.

Clutter is defined as all non-programming content, which includes network and local commercial time, public service announcements (PSAs), public service promotions (PSPs), promotions aired by broadcast and cable networks, program credits not run over continuing program action, and “other” unidentified gaps within a commercial pod.

Amount of Commercial Minutes Also Decreases

Network news saw a dramatic four-minute decrease in commercial minutes, down from 15:40 in 1999 to 11:39 in 2000, mainly due to election news coverage. This is the lowest number of commercial minutes for all dayparts, and a record low for network news over the past ten years.

Also, for the first time in a decade, a minor decrease in commercial minutes was apparent in primetime, which dropped to 11:44 from 11:57 in 1999. Early morning also showed a drop, while local news and late night were the only dayparts where an increase in commercial minutes was reported.

Meanwhile, daytime continued to reign as the most commercial-laden daypart with 16:34 commercial minutes per hour in 2000, down from the 16:52 reported in 1999.

Regarding primetime network commercial minutes, ABC, CBS and FOX all saw a decrease in Nov 2000 from 1999, and NBC was the only network to show an increase (from 9:28 to 9:46). Despite ABC’s drop, the network still had the most commercial minutes per hour (9:48) with Fox delivering the least (8:01).

Emerging Networks and Syndication Market

Emerging network UPN witnessed a significant decline in total non-programming minutes from May 2000 to November 2000 from 17:58 to 16:18 respectively, due to approximately a two-minute decrease in promo/credit and other time. WB carried the most commercial minutes of the two emerging networks in both May and November.

Total syndication minutes increased slightly from November 1999, but dropped significantly from May 2000–from 18:49 in May to 17:57 in November 2000. Once again, King World/Camelot delivered the most cluttered syndicated programs, as “Wheel of Fortune” and “Hollywood Squares” topped the list in November 2000 with 22:10 and 21:22, respectively.

Cable Networks

For the second consecutive year, Fox Family Channel was the most cluttered cable network running 18:05 minutes in November 2000, and Nickelodeon posted the least amount of non-programming minutes with only 13:44 minutes (also November).

E! had the most messages in May and November with 40 and 38 respectively. Meanwhile Headline News, CNBC, and TNT delivered the least number of messages in May with 28 and ESPN had the fewest in November with 23.

Recommendations

Advertisers and advertising agencies should continue to monitor television programming; this information should be carefully weighed when making planning and buying decisions.

The AAAA and ANA recommend that:

Programmers should make clear, in advance, the maximum amount of non-program material that each program will carry.
Limits should be placed on the number of promos appearing within each show.

Variations among programs within a network daypart should be minimized.

All guidelines should be strictly followed.