Seinfeld episode being sped up by 9 percent This isnt only happening on TBS, though. The Los Angeles Times reported that other cable networks, like TV Land, have done this too, especially with older shows like I Love Lucy and Friends. Because of this, more TV time has been taken up by commercials Nielsen, a television ratings company, found that broadcast networks aired 1. One drive behind this is falling television ratings, which lowers the cost of individual commercial slots. Download Free Budget For Youth Football Program. To compensate for lost revenue, TV companies are airing more ads. In response to the increasing number of commercials, television shows have gotten shorterThe Big Bang Theory episodes have an average runtime of 2. I Love Lucy episodes, which average 3. Older shows on television are often edited or slightly sped up to make more room for commercial breaks. Cable networks have also shortened opening credits for TV shows to increase ad time. However, this technique may be changing as television ratings fall even farther as competitors like Netflix and Hulu take over the TV market. According to an article in The New York Times from 2. Turner and Viacom which owns MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon have begun to cut back on commercials and shift their focus to programming sponsored by brands, like when NBC teamed up with American Express on Leap Day to create extended segments of popular NBC shows.