Dictionary of Marketing Terms: commercial time
commercial time
as prescribed by the National Association of Broadcasters, allowable amount of time per hour of programming that can be used by a radio or television station or network to broadcast commercials. For example, a network television station must adhere to the following schedule:
Thus, during prime time, this station may air a total of 9 minutes and 30 seconds of commercials per hour of programming; during nonprime time, 16 minutes. Typically radio commercials are 60-second spots, and television commercials are 10-, 15-, 20-, or 30-second spots.
