Time Warner told investors that it plans to test reducing the number of ads shown on some of its Turner cable channels, starting with those targeting young viewers, such as TruTV. Variety reports that for youth channels the plan is to decrease the volume of advertising to 10-11 minutes per hour, compared to 18-19 minutes at present. Instead of referring to an around 43 percent drop in advertising minutes, Time Warner described the move in its analyst call as a planned increase in the amount of programming by around 21 percent per hour.
Asked about the change’s impact on financials, Turner executives said that reducing some of the ad load on networks like TruTV would have little to no impact on overall revenue. Another measure in the group's efforts to reduce cord cutting is the offer of access to premium networks, such as HBO, through its broadband service.
