Will the new directive permit “U.S. style” TV with unlimited advertising breaks?
No. The new directive is intended to safeguard the specific character of European television and therefore provides for some qualitative and quantitative restrictions concerning advertising and commercial communications that may appear during programmes. The 12-minute upper limit on all advertising in any hour would stay. Insertion of advertising would still be subject to particular restrictions in programmes that need an enhanced protection – such as films, children’s programmes and news programmes – which, under the EC proposal, could be interrupted by advertising only once every 35 minutes. Also product placement, under the new directive, will be subject to the principle of identification while being prohibited in some programmes (such as news, current affairs and children’s programmes) and subject to the same qualitative restrictions or prohibitions as ordinary advertising.
