Bolin

Hi.
As someone fascinated by television writing, I often pay attention to how many commercial breaks (and how many acts) an episode has.
The big networks used to have 4 breaks in one episode (usually a teaser followed by 4 acts), but they started to switch to 5 breaks around 2004, and it is now the norm for network and basic cable shows. I find it interesting because it had a significant impact on the writing (more scenes or more mini cliffhangers, and a faster pace). To my knowledge, a very small number of channels still has 4 breaks (CBS, AMC, FX... correct me if I'm mistaken).

My question is: is there a list of somewhere that indicates how many commercial breaks there are (by tv shows or by channels)? And where can I see the evolution over the years?
I did find a few shooting scripts of some shows, where you can see how many acts they have, but I'd love to have a real overview.

Thank you.

rw2516

In the classic days 1 hour shows always had four acts, so there were always 5 breaks during a show.
Pre-credits/credits (1 minute break)
Act 1 (1 minute break)
Act 2 (2 minute break. Always timed to be at the exact half hour)
Act 3 (1 minute break)
Act 4 (1 minute break)
End credits (2 minute break till next show starts)
Shows never went directly from credits to show, or from show to end credits without break. Exception if there was an Epilog, which was connected to end credits.
Breaks after Act 1 and 3 were short, usually one minute tops. There were extra long breaks at the half hour mark. Act 2 always ended just before the half hour extended break. This extended break included local station identification and the usual bumper about "(blank) will return after these messages".
There were always breaks between shows. A show would end at 8:58 and then 2 minutes of ads before next show started.

I think there was, or still is, a FCC rule about local station identification at every half hour mark on the dot. Not sure. Nowadays they can just do a pop up.

jpcamb

It seems to be getting worse these days. I forget which show it was, but we have programed our comcast remote for 30s jump skips. We were noticing a 4 minute commercial break a couple of times. Must have been a 40 min show trying to stretch out to an hour which was kind of ridiculous. Thank god for DVR...

Michael Corvin

^ TiVo just implimented a new "skip all" feature, where one click will skip the entire commercial break. It's pretty damn cool. Unfortunately, it's limited to certain shows and/or channels.

Orbi-Wan Techno

We have YouTube TV and DVR most of our shows. ABC and Fox let us skip through commercials, but CBS and NBC do not.

Also, I was watching the season finale of Legion the other day, and they only had one 30-second commercial at each break, but it was that doggone Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper one with the chariot.

I am hating that commercial.

Bolin

Yeah I only count 4 breaks because the episode is only interrupted 4 times, but technically you're right about the 5th one.
Thanks for the info about the break's running time, I didn't know.

I'd just like to know when the additional break was added on network tv, because I remember a show like Lost (ABC) had 5 breaks from the start in 2004, but a show like House (Fox) still had 4 breaks in 2005 (I think).

PhantomStranger

I have no idea how anyone can watch television without a DVR. The amount of commercials these days is bananas.

JeffTheAlpaca

Most sitcoms or comedies are 21 minutes long and dramas 41 or 42 minutes if you take out all the ads.

JimRochester

The only way I watch football is to DVR it. I can start the game at 2:30 and finish up at 4:00 just as the game is finishing in real time. So I only have to avoid the score for 90 minutes.

Most shows we like, we DVR, and even if we watch them live, we re-watch them over the weekend sans commercials.