ISBA and Ofcom restate CRR position as ITV hacks costs

There was little mercy being shown to a beleaguered ITV from ISBA director general Mike Hughes when he opened the annual conference this morning.

Speaking about CRR (Contract Rights Renewal) which is being reviewed currently by Ofcom, Hughes stated that ISBA does not want CRR dropped, but would be open to seeing it amended. However, he added: “ISBA wants performance basis at the core, and continued safeguards are needed against a potentially dominant TV player.”

Ed Richards, Ofcom’s chief executive, said the regulator was clear that no party wanted much more advertising creating commercial clutter, but – slightly surprisingly after an already lengthy period of consultation – said that OFCOM was still “less clear on how substitutable ITV is in your campaigns”. He added that all sides have a view on this and more evidence-based input will be gathered.

Standing back from this slightly, Richard Eyre – a former ITV CEO and now a portfolio media man, with interests in many areas – was in favour of relaxing the “CRR tourniquet”.

“ITV is a media tool worth persevering with… for all its historic sins,” he added (generously!).

The irony in this particular market is that no CRR at all would still not be relaxation enough to replace ITV’s lost revenues.

Read more on this debate from agencies and media owners at MediaTel’s recent ‘Future of TV’ conference “CRR needs to change”.