EU shakes up audiovisual rules

European broadcasters will have more freedom over when and how products can be advertised under new rules unveiled on Tuesday.

Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding announced the changes to the 1989 Television without Frontiers Directive after the European Commission meeting in Strasbourg.

The new rules will mean that previous restrictions on the number of adverts per day – set at three hours – will be scrapped.

And the role of national regulators in dictating when adverts are programmed will be severely reduced.

Under the current system, broadcasters must allow at least 20 minutes between each commercial break, as dictated by their national regulators.

But the new proposal allows them to decide for themselves when to programme the adverts – provided they stick within a 12-minute per hour limit.

Certain types of programme – news, documentaries, children’s programmes and films - will however be subject to a restriction between breaks of at least 35 minutes.

Product placement

The European Commission proposal will also allow companies to use placement to advertise their products for the first time.

“At the moment, there is total anarchy when it comes to regulating product placement,” Reding said.

“Some countries allow it for European but not national programmes, while some do not allow it at all.”

Programme makers will now be able to benefit from the additional advertising revenues that product placement brings, provided they follow strict guidelines.

Any programme containing product placement advertising will have to be preceded by an announcement – either oral or on-screen, at the discretion of the national authorities.

The placement of certain products such as tobacco, alcohol or prescription drugs will not be permitted, and it will not be allowed in children’s programmes, news and current affairs.

“With these new rules in place, European broadcasters will have a level playing field to compete with rivals from the rest of Europe or the world, where product placement is already widely used as a source of additional revenue,” the Luxembourg commissioner said.

Scope expanded

The other major change to the directive comes in its scope, which takes account of the rapid advances in technology since it was first agreed in 1989.

But Reding stressed that the changes did not refer to the ‘platform’ by which audiovisual services are offered.

“We are not regualting the internet, or mobile phones, or cable, or satellite, but rather the content that is transmitted via these media.”

The commissioner said that ‘linear’ services, such as scheduled broadcasting via television, the internet or mobile phones, where consumers have no choice over what they watch at any aprticualr time, would ontinue to be subject to the existing rules.

However, she added that there would be an increased freedom on the part of member states to police these rules as they chose, including endorsing the use of co- and self-regulation.

As for non-linear services, such as on-demand films or news services, where the user defines when, where and what to watch, Reding said that she preferred a “light touch approach”.

“Take the case of video on-demand, where 83 per cent of suppliers are subject to contradictory national regulations.”

“This makes it very hard for them to take advantage of the single market, even though VOD services have an important role to play in distribution European works, to places where, for example, there is no cinema, or where cinemas do not show European films.”

A single harmonised system, setting standards only in areas such as protection of minors, incitement of racial hatred, will make it easier for non-linear service providers to expand their businesses, Reding said.

Cultural diversity

Non-linear services will also be exempted from existing rules on cultural diversity.

At present, the majority of the programmes shown in each country must be produced by European companies, with at least 10 per cent made by independent producers.

But while these quotas will continue to apply for all linear broadcasts, irrespective of platform, Reding confirmed that non-linear services will be required simply to “promote access to European works, wherever possible”.

“In the end, consumer demand will determine whether providers of non-linear services will want to offer more regional or local content,” she said.

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