PSA slice shrinks as commercial pie grows; public service announcements are disappearing like 'rain in the desert,' Hundt says. (public service announcements on television networks, FCC Chairman Reed Hundt)

Broadcasting & Cable, March, 1997 by Fleming, Heather

Public service announcements are disappearing like 'rain in the desert' Hundt says

Promos and commercials are eating away at prime time network programing, but public service announcements are getting only crumbs of the prime time pie.

Nonprogram material now accounts for one-fourth to one-third of all network TV time, the American Association of Advertising Agencies and Association of National Advertisers 1996 Television Commercial Monitoring Report shows. Over the past year, prime time commercial minutes-- which include PSAs, promos and local and network commercials--on the networks and stations increased by an average of 31 seconds per hour to an all-time high across all networks in November 1996.

But PSAs account for only a...

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