‘SNL’ Is Trying To Improve Live Viewing By Cutting Out A Bunch Of Commercials

After about a decade of networks cramming more and more ads into each hour of television, it appears things may be swinging back the other way. NBC just announced that the upcoming season of Saturday Night Live will run with two fewer commercial breaks each episode, which adds up to two 30 percent fewer commercials total. The average network show checks in at about 15 minutes of ad time per hour, according to Nielsen, so a little math tells us that a 30 percent cut for a 90-minute show works out to something like six or seven extra minutes each episode. That’s not insignificant. It basically works out to an extra sketch or two every week.

SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels says the move will “give time back to the show and make it easier to watch the show live,” which is certainly something networks should be concerned about as viewers get used to commercial-free alternatives from streaming services like Netflix and Amazon. And fewer commercials in the live show also increases the odds one of the sets that the crew has to rush into place between sketches will, like, fall down or something, and that would be kind of funny, too. For me, at least.

According to NBC, the show will attempt to make up for lost revenue by offering advertisers the ability to place sponsored content within in the show, so hopefully this all leads to a graphic on the screen that says, “Drunk Uncle, brought to you by Dewar’s.”

(Via Variety)

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