Ofcom Contributing To “Nanny State” View On TV Advertising

The television industry needs to be able to self-regulate, moving away from the “nanny state” that Ofcom is imposing, according to Five’s Jane Lightning, who was speaking at yesterday’s Thinkbox conference in London.

Lightning expressed great concern about the current climate of restrictions, particularly in relation to the long-running HFSS debate, saying the industry needs a lighter touch to regulation.

New executive chairman of ITV, Michael Grade, agreed, saying the restrictions were too simplistic and that we were developing into an “insidious nanny state” when it came to advertising restrictions.

The industry has a common cause, he said, admitting “we could work better together in resisting some of this nonsense”.

His comments come shortly after Ofcom’s final decision to implement a ban on advertising of products high in fat, salt and sugar in all programmes aimed at under 16s (see Ofcom To Phase In HFSS Restrictions).

Grade, who moved from the BBC to its commercial rival recently (see

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