Does any legislation exist now to regulate television advertising re.length of advert breaks how often shown?
Ofcom regulates TV advertising in the UK. I read recently that due to the precarious financial state of ITV it was considering reclassifying itself from a ‘public service channel’ to just another TV channel. Apparently a public service channel (which includes ITV1,Ch4 & Five) is restricted to an absolute maximum of 12mins per hour for advertising but with an average of 7 min. So in a 24hr period they can transmit 168min of adverts. ‘Other’ channels can transmit for up to 288min in a 24 hr period and are allowed a max break of 9min. The article did not explain the difference between the types of licence but it all seemed very confusing, as you would expect if Ofcom or any of the other ‘Ofs’ are involved..
