The main purpose of the shake-up is to reduce the regulatory
burden on Europe’s providers of TV and TV-like services and to
allow them more flexibility in financing their productions.
At present there are disparate national rules on the protection
of minors, against incitement to racial hatred and against
surreptitious advertising, and the Commission hopes to replace
these with a basic, EU-wide minimum standard of protection for
audiovisual on-demand services.
Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding said:
“The new rules should open up multimedia opportunities, boosting
competition and consumer choice, while promoting public interest
objectives such as the protection of minors and cultural
diversity.”
The proposals
Under the Commission plans, the modernised TV Without Frontiers
Directive will govern TV and TV-like services – whether these be
“linear” services, such as scheduled broadcasting via traditional
TV, the internet, or mobile phones, which “pushes” content to
viewers; or “non-linear” services, such as on-demand films or news,
which the viewer “pulls” from a network.
The new rules will apply to linear services in a modernised,
more flexible form, whereas non-linear ones will be subject only to
a basic set of minimum principles, such as the protection of
minors, prevention of incitement to racial hatred and the
prohibition of surreptitious advertising.
With regard to advertising in scheduled broadcasts, broadcasters
will be able to choose the best moment to insert advertising in
programmes, rather than being obliged, as they are now, to allow at
least 20 minutes between advertising breaks. A ceiling of 12
minutes of advertising per hour (the current ceiling) will still
apply.
Product placement
The new Directive will also support new forms of advertising,
such as split-screen, virtual and interactive advertising, and,
controversially, product placement.
Product placement ads, where manufacturers pay to have their
particular product used in particular TV shows and films, are
common in US programmes.
They are generally banned in all European countries but Austria
unless an imported show is being aired. Desperate Housewives and 24
were among the popular US series that pioneered successful product
placement.
According to the Commission, the discrepancy is leading to legal
uncertainty and is putting the European industry at a disadvantage
in comparison with the US market.
The Commission has therefore set out proposals explicitly
defining product placement for the first time, and setting the use
of the ads in a clear legal framework. Accordingly, a popular
programme like Coronation Street could demand high fees for
consumer brands to be clearly visible on characters' clothing or in
the background of its sets.
The rules will allow clearly identified product placement except
in news, current affairs and children’s programmes. Adverts for
tobacco and prescription drugs will not be allowed.
To prevent surreptitious advertising, consumers will be informed
at the start of a programme that product placement is in use.
Disclaimer: We hope you find OUT-LAW’s content useful. It’s prepared by the lawyers at Pinsent Masons. Please remember, though, that it’s intended as general information only. It’s not legal advice. If that’s what you’re seeking, please
contact us. See also: our
full disclaimer
