The European Parliament’s Environment Committee has postponed a vote on the Schnellhardt Report on the labelling, presentation and advertising of alcoholic drinks, following calls for further discussions. The report – which aims at bringing the labelling and advertising of alcoholic beverages into line with a 1979 Directive on foodstuffs – will create new rules for… Continue reading EU: Rule changes postponed
Unofficial BARB figures report that Channel 5 achieved its best ever week in terms of viewing figures for the week ending 22 March.The channel averaged a 4.6% audience share, beating its previous best of 4.2%. Thursday’s The Real Monty is being hailed as C5’s highest rating ‘documentary’, attracting 2.2 million viewers – a 12% viewing… Continue reading Channel 5 Achieves Its Highest Weekly Viewing
J.Sainsbury, one of Britain’s largest supermarket retailers, is about to conduct three-month tests in 13 stores of a new interactive touch-screen technology, imported from the US. The screens are advertising points for manufacturers who pay to advertise special discounts to customers. Sainsbury is the first European retailer to introduce this type of technology, which if… Continue reading UK: Supermarket touch-screens
The PPA is seeking a change in ITC ruling to allow masthead programming on terrestrial television channels. In a submission presented to the ITC today, the PPA calls for ‘masthead programming across the full television spectrum’.Currently, ITC code only allows masthead programming on cable and satellite channels. The PPA argues that these programmes have not… Continue reading PPA Calls For Extension Of Masthead Programming
March 30 Internal Market CouncilApril 6 Social Affairs Committee 6-8 European AV Conference on ‘Challenges and Opportunities of the Digital Age’ (Birmingham) 23 Consumer Affairs Council 30 Health CouncilMay 7 Industry Council 11-12 AA Conference on ‘Media, Consumers and Commercial Communications’ (Leeds) 14-16 Conference on European Culture, Creativity and Employment’ (London) 16-17 G8 Summit –… Continue reading Calendar of events related to commercial communications
Don Cruickshank, director general of the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel, the government-backed regulatory authority overseeing telecommunications in the UK), has suggested that regulations preventing companies dominating the new communications marketplace should be introduced, and recommended they be included in a new authorisation system for operators who wanted to provide services in these sectors.
The UK Advertising Association is to meet officials of the UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport on 23 March to brief them further on the advertising and media industries’ concerns over the negotiation of the Council of Europe’s revised Transfrontier Broadcasting Convention. Later this week a key drafting group meeting on the text will… Continue reading EU: Transfrontier Convention
The European Commission’s Competition Unit is studying the Council of Registrars’ (CORE) proposals for registration of Internet domain names. CORE has put forward new top-level domains, including .shop .firm and .arts. They plan to add these to .com, .org and .net, which are already in use. 88 companies have set themselves up as CORE registrars… Continue reading EU: Internet domain names
Simon Murphy (MEP for Midlands West, PES) along with other MEPs has condemned the Loi Evin, which bans all alcohol advertising in France. Mr Murphy told the Commission that the law had resulted in the effective banning of the re-transmission of televised sporting events benefiting from alcohol advertising or sponsorship in France. He believes it… Continue reading EU: Loi Evin challenged
The European Parliament has voted to strengthen consumer protection plans across the EU. Under the amendment voted by the EP, legislation would introduce a minimum two-year guarantee period throughout the EU for all goods, during which time consumers will be able to have repaired or replaced all defective goods, no matter where they purchased them… Continue reading EU: Additional protection plans
