Dear LPG,

I think that if I did not watch too much television before we became a lock-down society, I do now.   I was watching telly the other evening when I realised just how much of each television programme is taken up with the adverts.

During one of those sessions where you get lost, looking through the internet with Google’s help, I found something that caught my eye.  Did you know that if we decide not to watch the BBC, during an hour of television watching, an average of 12 minutes of our television watching experience will feature adverts?  What we see each hour comprises of about three advert breaks consisting of about 4 and a half minutes each?

I remember when my parents first bought a television and it was thought a bad influence for children.   My brother and I were allowed to see one television programme each during the whole week apart from the news broadcasts, and back then, every advert was introduced with that rotating star, unlike these days.  Our family used the star as a trigger to get up and do a few things before being back on the sofa in time for part two, but we had to be a lot quicker than you would today. 

These days there are so many adverts, I even found some information on the most popular ones.  Unlike the 1960s, when the adverts were shorter and they came straight to the point about the product they were promoting.  They are like mini films these days, and I have to say that, while I know which are my favourites, I have to admit to not knowing what some of them are actually trying to advertise.

I think that the good ones tend to hold my interest, whatever they are trying to advertise, while the ones that don’t interest me so much break the hold of the program’s power to keep me watching which is not a bad thing, but while googling I also found a little information about just how much it costs to get one of those little adverts on national television, before you even start to think about the cost of making it.

I have often heard it said that advertising is big business, and having seen a few of those figures I am convinced that advertising is an expensive one, with or without the star. 

BJ, Lewisham.  

BJ shares a few facts and figures about how long they are allowed to last and how much it costs to actually get on the TV…

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… and shares some classic adverts featuring the star, and some newer ones without …

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