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Here in the EU (edit: at least in Germany), TV stations sometimes slow down their shows to cram in more ads. There are rules that there may be only one block of ads in a show of up to 45 minutes, two blocks in a show of up to 90 minutes, and three blocks in a show of up to 110 minutes. So, if the content is just under 90 minutes or so, stations will stretch it slightly, so that it comes above the limit.

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Fancy that. The EU making some good laws to protect the consumer from the corporation. Lovely stuff.

"The unbelievable reason republicans HATE the EU. Click here to watch this sped up video!"

The EU tends to be more considerate of its citizens than "capitalism" would dictate. It's what gives it a bad reputation among republicans, especially those with very little understanding of the intricacies of a society. This being said the fact that stations are not forced to disclose this for every single show that is being showed other than "real time" is still a bummer.

I don't watch TV though but I feel compelled to have an opinion about it :).

For broadcasts in Denmark, the rule is that ads cannot interrupt a program. It has to be before/after programs.

Some channels get around that by broadcasting from other countries to Denmark though.

It was the same thing in Sweden during the analog days. But there was only one commercial terrestrial channel so only one channel to obey the rules. Satellite TV (which was quite popular) all broadcasted from the UK so were under UK Ofcom rules instead.

The one analog channel that abided by the rules would get around it for movies by inserting a "news update" in the middle and cramming ads around that.

The rules were relaxed in the digital switchover since it was clear that digital terrestrial would flop if it didn't get some of the satellite channels. Now it appears to be limited to 12 minutes/hour (and no ads targeted at children)

Not sure if it’s a EU wide rule though. IIRC the rule in my country is just a maximum of 12 minutes per hour.

This is for Germany. I assumed that it was EU-wide, but it may be like that in Germany only.

Bear in mind that (in my country) this is averaged over a 24 hours. So you will see fewer commercials during daytime but a lot of commercials during primetime such that it averages to 12 minutes per hour.

Chapter VII of the Audiovidual Media Services Directive [2010/13/EU] sets rules on "television advertising and teleshopping". Maybe member states can set stricter limits.

[2010/13/EU] http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2...

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