The Stuurgroep met on 13 February the Dutch Consumers Organisation; this was the second such meeting on the issue of advertising and children. The meeting follows the 1995 decision by both organisations to revise those elements of the Dutch advertising code relating to children. Now the two organisations need to confer on only two further… Continue reading NL: Stuurgroep Meets Consumer Group
United News & Media has announced that it has bought a stake in LineOne , the internet joint-venture company formed by BT and News International last year (subscribers see One Line For BT And NI).The group is thought to have paid around £10m for a 33% equity stake in LineOne.Clive Hollick, United News & Media’s… Continue reading UNM Becomes Equal Partner In LineOne
Well, quite a bit of new stuff on the box this week. First of all 2 Point 4 Children returns to BBC1, watched by 9.38 million, joined by another comedic “big gun” in Goodnight Sweetheart (8.85 million). Both of these programmes are in severe danger as they enter the hostile depths of ‘a series too… Continue reading TV Viewing Summary W/E 01/03/98
The UK government is studying the possibility of introducing a cinema-style classification for the internet, which could be linked to an electronic filtering device. According to Barbara Roche, the IT minister at the department of trade and industry, speaking at a meeting of the Internet Watch Foundation, the scheme may get government backing. At this… Continue reading UK: Internet Classification Plans
The Federation of European Direct Marketing Associations (FEDMA) has published the first survey into sales promotion legislation across the EU. It reports that “sales promotion regulations vary so widely in the EU that they constitute a serious distortion to intra-EU trade and to the smooth functioning of sales and marketing in the single market. If… Continue reading EU: FEDMA Calls For Single Market
The Consumers’ Association in the UK has published a policy paper on the issue of food labelling and health. It provides an overview of the main areas of food labelling and makes recommendations to the UK government, the EU and the food industry. It identifies a number of what it sees as problems within UK… Continue reading UK: CA Policy Paper
Casinos in the United States may soon be able to advertise their services on television and radio, following a Supreme Court decision to support a 1997 ruling by the US Circuit Court of Appeals, which overturned federal laws banning TV and radio advertising for casino gambling. Technically, the Circuit Court ruling applies only to the… Continue reading US: Liberalisation Moves
Competition and Consumer Affairs Minister, Nigel Griffiths, has taken the first steps to drop the requirement to read out warning statements at the end of radio credit ads.In a strongly pro-abolition consultation paper, issued last week, the DTI is seeking market approval to a move, which should see the end of the need for phrases… Continue reading UK: DTI To Drop Radio Warnings
The European Parliament is moving quickly to deal with the final legislative stage of the Tobacco Advertising Directive, formally adopted on 12 February by the Research Council. The EP Committee meets on 17 March to consider the text and amendments for the committee stage must be put by 31 March. The EP expects to vote… Continue reading EU: EP Moves Quickly As Lobby Begins
United News & Media today announced full year financial figures which show that it lost £25m from its 29% stake in Channel 5. However, profits before tax and exceptional items jumped 17% to £340.3m on the back of turnover up 8% to £1.9 billion. A spokesman for the media group said: “We expected an operating… Continue reading C5 Costs United £25m
