Sitcoms have an average duration of 22 minutes
Television sitcoms generally air for 30 minutes, but are actually an average of 22 minutes of content, excluding commercial breaks. According to The Scriptwriter's Network website, the story structure and format of episodic television must be precise.
Function
The strategic placing of commercials plays a vital part in a sitcom's timing. Indeed, The Scriptwriter's Network website suggests that sitcoms are written in view of advertisements and that breaks must be placed in the right spot for the advertisers to put up their wares.
Time Frames
Sitcoms with a viewing slot of one hour tend to run for 45 minutes, excluding commercials. The Stage website cites title sequences and "other elements" as aspects that encroach upon the allocated 60- or 30-minute sitcom slots.
Considerations
According to the Script Frenzy website, two pages of a sitcom script tend to average one minute of screen time. This is due to the fact that the sitcom script format is dependent upon double spacing.
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