VOD services are regulated differently to live television, often
called linear services in the world of broadcast regulation. The
Audio Visual Media Services (AVMS) Directive will come into force
on 19 December, bringing VoD services within the remit of
regulators.
The AVMS, which is the successor to the Television Without
Frontiers Directive, imposes a regulatory regime on VoD services
that is similar to the sets of rules faced by linear broadcasting.
VoD ads will have to comply with the British Code of Advertising,
Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP Code), which is similar
but not the same as its broadcast equivalent, the BCAP Code.
Clearcast, which vets television ads before they are aired, has
said that it will check ads for its shareholder membership to check
compliance with the Code.
"VoD ads will be subject to the CAP Code and are not required to
be cleared in the same way as linear ads," said a Clearcast
statement. "Clearcast’s shareholder VoD providers have, however,
decided to maintain the high level of viewer confidence in these
ads by asking Clearcast to give advice on the acceptability of VoD
ads and to help them to meet their responsibilities as set out in
the AVMS [Directive]."
The areas controlled by that Directive in relation to VoD
services include advertising to children alcohol advertising, and
discrimination, it said.
The inclusion of online and on-demand video in the AVMS
Directive was controversial as observers feared that the European
Commission was attempting to extend media regulation to the whole
internet and to user-generated videos such as those that users post
to YouTube.
The Directive only applies, though, to mass market
television-like services, and was designed to ensure that content
that is increasingly consumed on non-TV devices does not escape
regulation.
Clearcast said that while the CAP Code was broadly similar to
the BCAP Code that linear broadcasters had to follow, there were
some differences.
VoD advertisers had a slightly less onerous evidence burden, for
example, and while they must be able to substantiate claims made in
ads they will not be formally required to hold evidence as the
companies behind linear ads are.
There is also a different regime for the classification of
adverts to ensure that inappropriate material is not shown to
children or young people.
"Because of the nature of VoD, timing restrictions currently
assigned to linear ads cannot be carried across to VoD ads," said
the Clearcast statement. "To help VoD providers decide where to
appropriately place VoD ads, Clearcast will assign levels to
ads."
"These levels indicate whether there is violence, nudity, or
potential harm or offence in an ad .The degree will be indicated on
a level of 1 to 5, with 5 being the strictest," it said.
Level one will be equivalent to ads broadcastable at any time,
including before and after children's programmes, level two to
those only showable after 7.30pm, level three to those only
broadcastable after 9pm, and level four to those only to be shown
after 10pm
Many adverts shown on VoD platforms are likely to be those shown
on normal linear services. These will need no extra clearance. "Ads
that are intended to run both on linear TV and VoD will be cleared
under the BCAP Code alone, while unique VoD ads will be considered
under the CAP Code," said Clearcast.
Clearcast said that the AVMS regulation applied only to those
ads shown as part of the programmes. "Any display advertisements or
audio-visual ads the viewer will see before selecting a programme
will not be covered by the directive and is therefore outside of
Clearcast’s remit," it said.
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