Why are new TV shows running longer?

September 18, 2015 11:45 PM

Why are new TV shows, such as USA's Mr. Robot and AMC's Fear The Walking Dead, running 65 or 66 minutes? Are we getting more show, more ads, or a little of both? How widespread is this practice and can we expect it to continue? In future syndication, will episodes be cut to fit in one-hour time slots?
posted by IndigoRain to Media & Arts (14 answers total)

Best answer: Viewers are getting the same or less show. Over time, ad runtimes have been creeping up relative to the show runtimes, as increased use of DVRs will sometimes allow viewers to speed through ads. For shows that need to fit in standard time slots, like those in syndication, it is likely that the networks will speed up playback of the show to fit in more ads.
posted by a lungful of dragon at 11:58 PM on September 18, 2015 [3 favorites]

The typical broadcast half-hour these days is 22-23 minutes, and 43 minutes for the hour. Do these shows air over a 90 minute period? If so, then that's right about the same ratio of content to ads, about 72% content, 28% ads.
posted by Sunburnt at 12:03 AM on September 19, 2015

One thing to account for is the rise of online content platforms like Netflix.

Netflix's original content runs for a hour long without ads.

It's possible that that these shows are responding.
posted by pando11 at 12:10 AM on September 19, 2015

Sunburnt, I'm guessing the 65-minute running time includes ads, so the question is trying to figure out how much of the extra few minutes is due to ads.

I don't know how often cable shows later end up going into syndication on local affiliates, but I'd guess there'd be a mix of speeding up and cutting out material. Older shows get the same treatment, since they'd have first aired when there were fewer ads.

I guess if there are other modern shows that have similar 65-minute times, and have since made it to DVD, that would reveal how long they actually were.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 12:42 AM on September 19, 2015

Response by poster: Sunburnt, no, the actual air time on my DVR is always 1 hour and 5 minutes or 1 hour and 6 minutes. I very rarely watch shows live; it's not just that I want to skip the ads, but I am also not a fan of being tied to a time slot. I'd rather watch at my convenience.
posted by IndigoRain at 1:13 AM on September 19, 2015

My DVR automatically records a few minutes either side of the timeslot, so that if timings are a little off somewhere along the line you don't miss the beginning or end of your show.
Maybe yours is doing this and the 66 minute runtime is actually 60 mins + 3 before and 3 after?
posted by chrispy108 at 1:51 AM on September 19, 2015 [3 favorites]

I recently read an interview with a show runner for You're the Worst and he said that his current basic cable channel was much more flexible about letting him have a few extra minutes than Showtime had been. He didn't say why.

Also read another article recently on how the USA network is doubling down on VOD, streaming, etc., which I can't find, but obviously it matters much less exactly how long a program is if people aren't switching to something else at 10PM exactly.

And I feel like in the early days of TiVo, there were some claims that networks were deliberately padding their popular shows to create conflicts with other networks' popular shows.

So, yes, basic-ish cable channels are more flexible about the length of an ep, and it probably has to do with asynchronous viewing.
posted by mskyle at 4:54 AM on September 19, 2015

Response by poster: Chrispy, my DVR will certainly let me do that if I want to, but I have it set to start and stop exactly on time, and it does. It starts immediately before the show begins and stops right after the credits.
posted by IndigoRain at 6:30 AM on September 19, 2015

Best answer: I wonder if this is a new manifestation of TBS's old scheduling trickery -- by starting/ending a show at an odd time they keep viewers from switching away to another channel. If Zombie Apocalypse Housewife Hoarders of Fresno ends at 8:07 it's difficult to switch to another channel that starts its content on the hour or half hour.
posted by nathan_teske at 7:58 AM on September 19, 2015 [3 favorites]

Best answer: More ads is definitely part of the equation. Also, the cable networks have relatively little original programming that they aren't forced to stay to a strict schedule. This let's say a AMC show at 10pm run a few minutes long. It would however be a bad thing if every show on NBC's Thursday night line up wanted a few extra minutes. Here is a piece on Sons of Anarchy's long run times which were often comically bloated.
posted by mmascolino at 10:02 AM on September 19, 2015

Best answer: The "hour" dramas on the broadcast networks have always had another show behind them, most typically the affiliates' 11 p.m. newscasts. The "hour" dramas on many cable networks usually have nothing coming after them except a repeat of the same episode, so over time they lost their inhibition around the clock. Also, if giving creative reign to a show-runner happens to let them tuck in another block of commercials on a show that may have literally 10x the ratings of anything else that runs that week on the network, well, so much the better...

You'll notice that HBO has stayed disciplined about limiting shows not only to standard hour long blocks, but often to runs of 50 minutes, only a little more actual show time that an "hour" drama has. This is largely because they run them at 9 p.m. with original half-hour comedy series running after them at 10 p.m., who need to have a predictable start time. Monetary issues also play a role: no commercials to sell on HBO, a mind to eventually allow commercials to be added for syndication or foreign sales, and extremely high production costs per minute. (5 more minutes of Sons of Anarchy is just 5 minutes that didn't have to be cut in editing; 5 more minutes of Game of Thrones or Boardwalk Empire is a heck of lot of CGI and location cost.)
posted by MattD at 12:02 PM on September 19, 2015

Nathan_Teske has it. It's a relatively common trick used by networks. The idea is that viewers won't switch to another network if they've missed the first five or so minutes of the show. Back in the early days of cable TV, shows on TBS started/ended at either five or thirty-five minutes past the hour.
posted by Thorzdad at 2:01 PM on September 19, 2015

I don't have cable, so I purchased the Mr Robot series on Amazon, so, no commercials and the player tells you how long the episodes are.

Most of the episodes are 45 minutes. But the first show is 65 minutes and the last is 55 minutes.
posted by eye of newt at 10:00 PM on September 19, 2015

I just realized that Amazon will also show you times of series even if you haven't bought it. Looks like Fear of the Walking Dead follows the same formula: first episode 65 minutes, all others 45 minutes.
posted by eye of newt at 10:05 PM on September 19, 2015