ITV hits back over soccer show

ITV defended itself today over fans' claims that there is too much advertising and not enough action on its flagship football show The Premiership on Saturday night.

The station was criticised by fans for screening 13 minutes of adverts, 27 minutes of chat - and only 28 minutes of football action.

A spokesman for the channel said today: "They are the regular advertising patterns for commercial television - they are no greater and no less than the regular advertising patterns.

"The advertising patterns are approved by the independent regulator the Independent Television Commission, the regulator of commercial television, not just ourselves."

The Premiership show was branded a rip-off over the weekend after football fans protested about the shortage of action - the BBC's old Match of the Day screened 56 minutes of action in a show that was 74 minutes long.

So many football fans were annoyed with the ratio of adverts to action that they switched channels to the BBC, giving the station one of its best Saturday night viewing figures.