Ofcom consults on additional funding sources for commercial television

Ofcom today published a consultation seeking views on a restricted set of uses of product placement by UK commercial television broadcasters.

Ofcom has also today published research on the attitudes of viewers towards various new and existing television funding mechanisms.

Product placement is the inclusion of, or reference to, a product or service within a programme in return for payment or other valuable consideration.

Product placement is currently prohibited under the European Commission’s Television Without Frontiers Directive which governs audio-visual content regulation in Europe. However, in the draft revision to the Directive, published on December 13, the EC has proposed to liberalise the rules governing television advertising.

Ofcom believes that a cautious approach to the introduction of product placement has merit. In light of this, the consultation seeks to examine how this proposed liberalisation could be interpreted and applied in the UK broadcasting market in a manner which clearly informs the viewer and safeguards critical editorial and programme genres.

MARKET CHANGES

New developments in the television market such as personal video recorders (PVRs), audience fragmentation and video on demand have challenged the value of traditional spot-advertising.

Future funding of programming is therefore a legitimate concern to commercial broadcasters, particularly those free-to-air broadcasters who do not benefit from subscription revenues.

The consultation closes on 8 March 2006. It can be found at http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/product_placement/ together with the results of Ofcom’s research into viewer attitudes toward future funding.

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