The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued regulations regarding 'Duration of advertisements in television channels' to all broadcasters, following complaints from subscribers on the increasing duration and distracting formats of TV ads which has affected the TV viewing experience. TRAI had previously released a consultation paper in March 2012 and had invited comments & counter-comments from various stakeholders like consumers, consumer organisations and cable operators till April 2, 2012. TRAI said it had received 29 comments in response to its consultation paper and with intentions to strike a balance between providing a good TV viewing experience to consumers and protecting the commercial interests of TV broadcasters, it has released these regulations regarding the duration of advertisements carried in TV channels. Highlights of the new regulations - Maximum Duration Limit of Advertisements: TRAI has mandated that the duration of advertisements in the TV channels should be limited to 12 minutes per clock hour and the leftover advertisement duration (if any) in any clock hour will not be carried over to the next hour. These advertisements will include all types of advertisements including advertising spots, info-commercials and self-promotional advertisements from the broadcaster. - Advertisement breaks only during breaks for live sporting events: In case of live broadcast of sporting events, the advertisements should be carried out by the broadcaster only during the breaks in the sporting action e.g. half time in football or hockey match, lunch/ drinks break an change of overs in cricket matches, game/set change in case of lawn tennis etc - Time gaps between consecutive advertisements…
