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Expenditure on UK television advertising in 2002 was £3.7 billion, which far exceeds expenditure on any other advertising media. Terrestrial television advertising is shown on the ITV Network ,Channel 4 and Channel 5, between programmes, and during programme intervals. The programmes themselves are broadcast by 15 UK programme companies who are each assigned a region of the UK to cover, and include the likes of Carlton, and Grampian TV. These companies sell advertising time, and the money this generates pays for the programmes they show. The three channels ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5 are regulated by the Independent Television Commission, which stipulates the time allowed each hour to broadcast advertisements. Currently this is set at seven minutes per hour, on average, during daytime ‘off-peak’ periods, and seven and a half minutes during ‘peak time’ viewing in the evenings when audiences are at their highest levels.
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Ad Agency : Abbott Mead Vickers·BBDO
Recently voted the best ad of all time, by Channel Four viewers. Abbott Mead Vickers·BBDO helped Guinness achieve their biggest ever sales and market share at a time when fewer people are drinking beer
 click to view Guinness - Guinness Surfer ad
Click on QuickTime & Credits link to view this advert.
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An advertising ‘spot’ can range from over 1 minute to seven seconds, the cost of using such ‘spots’ varies according to the time of day, the number of homes in the region in which it is broadcast, the average income per head of the population, and audience viewing figures for the programme / programmes it is broadcast between. A 30 second weekday spot during peak time (approximately 7.30 pm to 11.30 pm) in London provided by Carlton, will cost in the region of £20,000, where as the same spot on Grampian Television will cost approximately £1,250. In addition to the commercial break, since 1991 companies have also been allowed to sponsor programmes themselves, examples of this include Cadburys sponsorship of Coronation Street.
The regional structure of the ITV Network means that an advert can be broadcast nationally or in a specific number of regions, enabling both geographic targeting of an advertising campaign, or testing of a campaign in one region before being launched nationally.
During peak-time viewing (5.30 to 10.30) audience figures can rise to 20 million for a programme shown across all regions. Considering the fact that the UK population is approximately 59 million this represents 1 in 3 people in the country. More normal viewing figures range from 10 to 14 million at peak-time. Actual viewing figures are recorded by the Broadcasters Audience Research Board and can be accessed at their web site www.barb.co.uk, also on this site are figures concerning the percentage share of viewing audience achieved by the competing channels. BARB has carefully selected approximately 3,000 homes across the country, which they feel provide a representative sample of the entire population. Each of these houses is monitored via a meter attached to the tv set, recording when the television is switched on and off, and what channels are being watched.
Unfortunately, just because the tv set is switched on, does not mean anyone is watching, commercial breaks are also opportunities for people to do other things, put the kettle on for example. For this reason commercials are often repeated during an evening in order to increase the chances of being watched and remembered by the audience.
The ITC controls the use companies make of television advertising, through its Code of Advertising Standards and Practice. The programme companies are responsible to the ITC for all material they broadcast be it programmes or commercials, and the ITC does have the power to review a companies ITV license if it is not found to be adhering to the standards set.
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