Public policy

ITV is a highly regulated business. Government policy and legislation has a significant impact on ITV and we engage with the UK government and Europe to ensure that we are represented in the development of legislation that affects our business.

ITV continues to rely on revenues from advertising but the broadcasting landscape has changed considerably in the last decade. Ten years ago most households had access to only five channels. Today 90% of UK households have access to multichannel TV.

Despite the transformation brought about by digital television and the rise of the internet, ITV is still burdened by regulation that existed before digital switchover began.

ITV is a vital part of the UK creative economy – supporting jobs and the production of programming enjoyed by millions every week – and yet it is being crippled by a legacy of regulation that assumes virtually nothing has changed in the television market in the last decade.

The regulatory environment must change to allow ITV and the rest of the UK’s creative industries to flourish. ITV will continue to engage with the Government and regulators in a transparent way to help bring this about. We describe below some of the significant public policy activity that we have undertaken in 2009.

HFSS and Alcohol Advertising

ITV has a long history of supporting high standards in the advertising it broadcasts. We fully support the Broadcast Committee on Advertising Practice (BCAP) television Code and the arrangements to assist advertisers in complying with it. Read more in Responsible advertising.

We actively engage on advertising issues related to alcohol and food and drink products that are high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS).

With regard to HFSS advertising, Ofcom introduced new regulations in 2007 which restricts advertising of these products. HFSS products cannot be advertised in any children’s TV programmes or in programmes of particular appeal to children (aged 4-15) - this is measured according to the proportion of the child audience watching at the time using a tool known as the 120 Index. Any programme at any time of day with a particularly high proportion of children in the audience cannot carry HFSS adverts.

In July 2008 Ofcom carried out an interim review of the effectiveness of these restrictions and found that they were “contributing to a significant reduction in HFSS impacts for 4-15 year olds, with scope for further reductions when the final phase of the advertising restrictions is implemented in January 2009”. Ofcom is carrying out a further review of the restrictions, rolled out in full, in the Spring/Summer 2010.

In ITV’s view, the 120 index is an effective mechanism to restrict HFSS advertising and it should remain the basis of the current restrictions. Because it is impossible to predict exactly the proportion of children who will watch a particular programme, ITV takes a responsible and risk adverse approach to its application to ensure compliance. If it is felt that a programme might attract an audience between 100 and 120 on the index, we will not place HFSS adverts in or around it. Furthermore these restrictions are in operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Similar restrictions exist for alcohol advertising, based on the 120 index, administered by the Advertising Standards Authority and endorsed by Ofcom. However, in December 2009, the Health Select Committee published its Report on Alcohol which recommended a blanket ban on advertising alcohol before the 9pm watershed and in any programme where 10% or more of the audience is under 18.

ITV has serious concerns about these proposals, and together with the other commercial public service broadcasters we engaged with government to express our opposition to these restrictions.

Alcohol abuse is a complex issue and many studies have been conducted on its causes. The majority conclude that restricting advertising will have little impact on irresponsible drinking. Other factors, such as peer pressure and family environment, have a more significant influence on drinking behaviour.

Further advertising restrictions will add to the pressures faced by commercially-funded public service broadcasters and our ability to invest in original UK-produced television programmes.

Product placement

In 2009 Ben Bradshaw, the Culture Secretary, announced plans to allow product placement in television advertising

Most EU states have already lifted the ban on product placement and with pressure on revenues from traditional TV advertising diminishing, ITV strongly believes that that UK should follow suit, subject to strict controls.

Product placement is already present on British TV screens through imported programmes and studies have shown that viewers do not object, providing that they do not perceive it as intrusive.

Employment of Children

We take the employment of children within our programmes seriously and comply with the industry wide guidance provided by the Producers Rights Agency in order to ensure the highest standards of child welfare.

However the regulations that currently apply to child performers date back to 1963 and there is a broad consensus that they need modernising to reflect the many more varied opportunities available to children to appear on TV. Last autumn the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) asked Sarah Thane (a former member of Ofcom) to undertake a broad exploratory review into the system for licensing child performers. ITV fed into this review, alongside the BBC, Channel 4 and the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (PACT).

As part of this work DCSF and Sarah Thane visited the Britain’s Got Talent auditions to observe the measures programme producers have in place to protect children taking part in the show.

Sarah Thane published her report on 18th March 2010. Her report recognised the many benefits to children of performing and that the opportunities for children to perform should be maintained or increased in future, but that system that regulates children’s performances is “antiquated and no longer fit for purpose in today’s or tomorrow’s world”. It says the licensing system needs to be more “streamlined, proportionate and risk-based”, a more flexible case by case approach is needed which sets the bar high for refusal to allow a child to participate in a TV programme and a holistic approach to manage benefit and risk more effectively.

ITV welcomed Sarah Thane’s review and recommendations and will work with Government and with others in the industry to ensure that they evolve into a set of workable regulations.