Backchannelmedia

United Press International

So called commercial clutter on U.S. prime time TV increased 2 percent on the big four networks and 5 percent on cable between 2004 and 2005.

The report from Washington's MindShare media buying agency said clutter -- described as the number of ads and promos aired during each hour of prime time -- detracts from the effectiveness of TV advertising, TVWeek.com reported Thursday.

The current data on clutter is disturbing, MindShare's Debbie Solomon wrote. It highlights the continuing concerns about the messaging and communications value of the TV environment caused by the increasing number of distracting elements in prime time.

Mindshare said ABC led the pack in 2005 with 15 minutes, 26 seconds of commercials or promos per hour, up from 15 minutes, 21 seconds in 2004. CBS's non-program minutes increased to 14, minutes, 52 seconds per hour but remained the lowest of the Big 4 networks.

MTV led the cable networks with more than 16 minutes of clutter per hour, a 20 percent increase over 2004, the report said. Other cable networks with more than 15 minutes of clutter per hour include Discovery, Lifetime, USA and Spike.