By Paul Revoir

Last updated at 12:20 AM on 8th December 2011

Dame Maggie Smith stars in the award-winning ITV production. The show is set to have shorter episodes next season

It was an unwanted intrusion for millions trying to watch the hit TV drama of the year.
But anger at the amount of advertising and sponsorship slots during each episode of Downton Abbey has had an unexpected result.

ITV chief executive Adam Crozier said yesterday that for the third series of the programme, the length of episodes will drop from 75 minutes to 60 minutes. The move means less adverts, but also less action from the hit drama.

When the second series started in September viewers were furious that a quarter of the programme’s opening 90-minute slot was filled with advertising and cross-promotion.
ITV chief executive Adam Crozier said ‘psychologically’ the advertising breaks seemed longer than they were on the show.

Analysis of the following 75-minute episodes showed that only 54 minutes of that were action and the rest adverts and promos.

Rivals: In Season 2, Lavinia Swire (left) was played by Zoey Boyle. The strawberry blonde newcomer played the fiancée of Matthew, Lady Mary Crawley's (right, played by Michelle Dockery) object of attraction

Mr Crozier said viewers were ‘attuned’ to the advertising breaks in an hour long slot and that the extra adverts, that came with the further 15 minutes of action, made viewers feel like there were more commercials than usual.

In the first programme alone there were 23 minutes of promotion with only 67 minutes of the drama – which was one minute of adverts for every three of Downton Abbey.
The situation was made worse by the fact that Aviva, which sponsored the programme, used its slots to run a ‘mini-drama’ about the lives of its customers, which Ofcom this week found guilty of effectively being another advert, which is against rules.

The Staff: The show will be reduced from 75mins to 60mins following outrage at the length time devoted to commerical breaks

The Staff: The very popular show will be reduced from 75mins to 60mins following outrage at the length time devoted to commerical breaks

Mr Crozier told the Broadcasting Press Guild that the sponsorship slots ‘certainly did not’ help counter the impression that there were too many adverts. He said: ‘Just to remind you we are heavily regulated around the amount of advertising we can take in any given hour.

‘Although sometimes it feels worse than others, actually by and large it is the same for peak-time in most nights, it really doesn't differentiate.
‘I think that what that shows on Downton is that it is just such a loved programme…. Perhaps it was more noticeable and I think in some ways the Aviva sponsorship certainly didn't help.’

He said the Aviva slots ‘probably made the break feel longer than it actually was.’

Jim Carter plays Mr Carson, who proudly and thoroughly leads the house. In the background is footman William Mason, played by Thomas Howes

A villan: James-Collier plays Thomas, a footman with aspirations of upward mobility

Speaking to the Daily Mail after the event he said that the broadcaster was now planning to scale back the episodes to an hour.

He said: 'We do take these things seriously…. For the third series we are looking at making the episodes 60 minutes.'

ITV insiders last night admitted that the amount of advertising and content from the programme would both drop in the reduced episode length. But they claimed the decision had also been made for editorial reasons, rather than as simply a reaction to the public outcry.

It is also understood that there will once again eight episodes in the new series and it is likely to stay in its current 9pm slot.

ITV is allowed to show a maximum of 12 minutes per hour of advertising but this does not include 'sponsorship' and promotion of other shows in each break.

It is estimated a 30-second advertising slot during the show would have been sold for as much as £100,000.

Mr Crozier yesterday said: We pay attention on viewer complaints on anything.’
The BBC was accused of over-competitive scheduling yesterday after moving the Christmas Day episode of EastEnders to 9pm in a direct challenge to Downton Abbey.

Daily Mail
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2071418/Downton-Abbey-downsized-new-series-15-minutes-shaved-dont-notice-advert-breaks-much.html#ixzz1ftmjfBjp