NBC is cutting the commercial clutter during “Saturday Night Live.”
Just two weeks before NBC starts selling ad time for the 2016-17 season, the network announced Monday that the legendary late-night sketch program will have two fewer national commercial breaks starting this season, its 42nd.
“As the decades have gone by, commercial time has grown,” the show’s creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels said in a statement. “This will give time back to the show to make it easier to watch the show live.”
“Saturday Night Live” runs 93 minutes. About one-third of that is devoted to national and local commercials and promos for other network programs. As part of this change, viewers will see more program content with an addition of original sponsored content from advertisers that partner with the show.
NBC said with the commercial reductions viewers will see “branded content” from advertisers who partner with the show.
