March 19 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. media and telecommunications regulator Ofcom has proposed increasing the number of advertising breaks allowed on British television, the London- based Times reported, citing Ofcom.

Ofcom has suggested scrapping a rule that requires 20 minutes of programming between advertising breaks on commercial channels, the Times said. The regulator is also considering giving channels the right to decide how often they want to show ads, the newspaper said.

The average length of advertising breaks in the U.K. is 236 seconds, compared with 141 seconds in the U.S., the Times said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kari Lundgren in London at klundgren2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 19, 2008 19:49 EDT