Q: I read several years ago that in England, TV broadcast stations were restricted to airing no more than 12 minutes of commercials per hour. Is that still true? Does the FCC have a limit on our TV industry, and if so, what is the limit?
—Jerry Spruiell, Atlanta
A: Broadcasters are limited to 12 minutes of advertising an hour in the United Kingdom, but there are no limits on the amount of commercial time for TV stations and networks in the United States, except in the case of children's shows.
The Federal Communications Commission states that “no more than 10.5 minutes of commercial matter per hour during children’s programming on weekends and no more than 12 minutes of commercial matter per hour on weekdays” can be shown.
The Children’s Television Act of 1990 established those guidelines.
Commercials lasted an average of 14 minutes, 15 seconds per hour on broadcast networks in the United States in 2013, according to Nielsen.
There was an average of 15 minutes, 38 seconds of commercials per hour on cable networks that year.
Q: The article about Dickie Moore calls him a “saucer-eyed” child star. I don’t understand this term. Can you explain it?
—Gerald Wade, Stockbridge
A: Saucer-eyed can refer to someone who has large round eyes or who might be wide-eyed, as in a state of shock.
Moore was a former child actor who died earlier this month.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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