TV viewers hooked on ads

Some say they are better than the programmes they interrupt. Others say they are the best time to stick the kettle on.

Whatever your opinion of TV adverts, the chances are you are watching more of them than ever before.

According to a new report, the number of TV adverts the average person sees each week has increased by a fifth in the past two years.

The research by media-buying agency Initiative-Futures found that adults in this country see an average of 293 television commercials a week - the equivalent of nearly one and a half hours worth of wall-to-wall commercials.

We saw on average eight more TV commercials a day in 2003 than in 2002 it found. But that's before broadcasters' own trailers are taken into account. These occur even on the BBC, which does not carry commercial advertising. Once they are included the total comes closer to 400 commercials a week.

"Advertising clutter" has become a serious problem for both viewers and advertisers says the report's author. " People don't watch TV for the ads. Although many are entertaining, they not only get in the way of the programmes, they get in the way of each other," said Sue Moseley, managing director of Initiative Futures.

"The more ads there are, the more people pay less attention to them," she said. "This in turn prompts some advertisers to pile on yet more advertising and so on."

The research was confirmed today by ITV. Commercials of the top 10 advertisers have gathered more than 15 billion viewer impacts so far this year.

DIY store B&Q was the most-seen advertiser with nearly 2.4 billion viewer impacts. A spokesperson said: "It sounds like a lot but we are constantly on air over the whole year. Of course we would prefer it if our rivals didn't advertise. But we live in the real world and deal with it as we find it."

BRAND LEADERS
Top 10 adverts on TV Jan-June 2004 in millions of "impacts":
1. B&Q 2,396
2. DFS furniture 2,281
3. McDonald's 2,219
4. Homebase 1,713
5. Tele2 1,352
6. KFC 1,084
7. Mint credit cards 1,082
8. Churchill insurance 1,053
9. Hutchison 3G 1,038
10. AA motor insurance 966