Agencies speak out against Ofcom’s “unneccesary” ruling
Agencies and advertisers have united in opposition against Ofcom’s airtime sales ruling.
Speaking to Newsline, Carat’s deputy managing director Steve Hobbs, said: “Alongside natural market consolidation, this unnecessary move basically means that the bargaining power is now moving firmly away from advertisers towards media owners.
“This might be good for broadcasters in the short term, in terms of inflation linked increases in revenues, but in the long term such supply led inflation will push advertisers away from TV, not only directly damaging TV’s strong market position but ultimately impacting upon budgets for content production.
“In competition with a continually strong BBC, this will leading to audience decline, reduced advertising impact, further supply led inflation, and further reduced advertising spend.”
ISBA said television advertisers are “disappointed and concerned” by the decision to remove the protection they are currently given by airtime sales rules.
“This is disappointing news, but it’s not unexpected. Even before this consultation was launched, it was quite clear that Ofcom was minded to remove these rules,” Bob Wootton, director of media and advertising at ISBA, said.
“The concern for the UK’s television advertisers is that broadcasters might withhold airtime to force prices or begin to leverage the sale of more generic airtime against stronger slots like those in prime time and special viewing events.
“ISBA hopes that Ofcom’s argument that there are sufficient economic incentives in the market to prevent broadcasters from withholding airtime is proved true in the marketplace. ISBA understands that a fair proportion of the Independent CRR Adjudicator’s caseload has involved instances of conditional selling on ITV’s part, so his office may be set for an increase in referrals.
“From September, advertisers and their media agencies will have to keep a close lookout for instances of conditional selling. ISBA will be ready to raise any concerns with Ofcom.”
Read Jim Marshall‘s detailed view on the decision in his Newsline column on Monday!