China's top broadcasting watchdog, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), announced on Tuesday that the administration will supervise and restrict the number of commercials between TV dramas, Xinhua News Agency reports.
The administration said that the commercials in primetime advertising, between 7 and 9 pm, will be restricted to 18 minutes. For non-primetime hours, the commercial time will be limited to 12 minutes per hour.
The restriction responds to TV viewers' complaints about lengthy commercial time between TV dramas after a recent ban on commercials during the TV dramas went into effect on January 1, 2012. SARFT's two new regulations are an effort to regulate the country's TV commercials, which many consider to be rampant.