The movie was getting interesting, and then they suddenly cut it short for an advertisement, which was very inconsiderate.

Representative Pham Van Hoa

On the afternoon of November 25th, the National Assembly held a plenary session to discuss the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Advertising Law.

Contributing his opinion on advertising on radio and television, delegate Pham Van Hoa ( Dong Thap delegation) mentioned that recently, there have been cases where, while watching a movie or other content, it was suddenly interrupted by an advertisement at an exciting part.

Considering this to be "extremely inappropriate and disrespectful to customers," the representative suggested that regulations should be established regarding appropriate advertising times, stating, "It's very strange to interrupt someone's viewing and have an advertisement suddenly pop up."

Representative Trinh Thi Tu Anh ( Lam Dong delegation) also argued that a balance of interests is needed when advertising on television. She proposed maintaining the current regulation of 5% for advertising time on pay television. In the context of increasingly fierce competition in the media market, while increasing advertising time might bring greater profits to broadcasters, it also means consumers will face more inconvenience and trouble.

According to the female delegate from Lam Dong province, increasing advertising time will reduce the viewer's experience, even when watching on a television channel they themselves paid for.

"Constant interruptions by commercials reduce viewers' focus and interest in the program they are watching. This is especially true for programs that run continuously, such as television dramas and sports; or, to free up time for commercials, broadcasters may cut or extend the duration of programs, leading to a decrease in content quality and a loss of the inherent appeal of those programs," Ms. Tu Anh said.

Representative Trinh Thi Tu Anh stated that viewers have paid to experience high-quality television services, and having to watch too many advertisements would make them feel annoyed and disrespected.

Representative Hoang Thi Thanh Thuy

Regarding advertising on radio and television, Representative Hoang Thi Thanh Thuy (Tay Ninh delegation) stated that Article 22 of the current law has been amended as follows: “Each entertainment program shall not be interrupted for advertising more than 4 times, each interruption not exceeding 5 minutes. Each feature film program with a duration of less than 30 minutes shall be interrupted for advertising twice, with one additional interruption for every 15 minutes increase in program duration; each interruption for advertising shall not exceed 5 minutes.”

According to the delegates, a 60-minute entertainment program consists of 40 minutes of content and 20 minutes of advertising; a 60-minute feature film consists of 45 minutes of film and 15 minutes of advertising (three times). Thus, advertising time accounts for approximately one-quarter of the total entertainment program/film time.

With this regulation, draft Article 22 of the Advertising Law has more clearly defined the scope of advertising time for entertainment programs/films; increasing advertising time and the number of advertisements, however, it has not truly considered the rights of television viewers.

Delegates argued that to balance the interests of television broadcasters and television service users, regulations on the number of interruptions and advertising time should be adjusted to match the length of episodes. The summary report on the implementation of the Advertising Law should include a survey of television viewers' opinions on increasing advertising time and frequency.

In addition, regulating the duration of advertisements is necessary; an entertainment program or movie should not dedicate more than one-fifth of its total time to advertising, and there should be no more than two advertising breaks.

VN (according to VTC News)

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/dai-bieu-quoc-hoi-phim-dang-hap-dan-tu-dung-cat-ngang-de-quang-cao-rat-vo-duyen-398883.html