The EC has decided to apply to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) against France for non-compliance with several provisions of the Television without Frontiers Directive. Infringement proceedings have been applied since 1992, but despite commitments made by the French government, none of the promised legislative measures have yet been adopted. The measures include cable… Continue reading EU: France taken to ECJ
The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) has called for a single economic regulator for television, responsible for both commercial services and the BBC. In response to the UK government’s Green Paper on regulating communications, the IPA also called for the establishment of a legally-binding remit for the BBC to guarantee a wide range and… Continue reading UK: Call for single regulatory body
The EP has adopted a report by German Social Democrat Gerhardt Schmid (EPP, DE), which amends the Community’s multi-annual action plan aimed at promoting safer use of the internet. MEPs have called for the introduction of codes of conduct and for a system of “site-quality labels” to be encouraged to help users identify suppliers that… Continue reading EU: EP action on a safer internet
The EU’s Culture / Audiovisual Council has approved a resolution on public service broadcasting, intended to complement the protocol on public service broadcasting annexed to the Amsterdam Treaty. The resolution, which differs substantially from previous drafts, has not added substantial further conditions to those of the protocol. Many observers feel that the Council has thus… Continue reading EU: Council disappoints private sector
British broadcasters have spoken out against EC plans on copyright during a seminar hosted by the BBC in Brussels last week. The seminar, which brought together broadcasters and media from across the EU, raised concerns over current EU plans. In particular, experts called for a list of discretionary exceptions to copyright to be deleted from… Continue reading EU: Concerns raised over copyright
The EP’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee has unanimously adopted the Larive report on the follow-up to the Commission’s Green Paper on Commercial Communications at its meeting in Brussels last week. Only two amendments to the draft report) were adopted, with Mrs Larive proposing a strengthening of the role of the Commercial Communications Expert Group,… Continue reading EU: EP Committee adopts Larive Report
The Commission’s Communication on its consumer affairs action plan for 1999-2000 outlines three aims: a more powerful voice for consumers, a high level of health and safety and full respect for the economic interests of consumers. A follow-up to the Green Paper on food law is planned, as well as improvement on enforcement and monitoring… Continue reading EU: Commission plan for 1999-2001
BSkyB is believed to have achieved its short-term digital targets by recruiting 200,000 subscribers to the Sky Digital service by the end of last year. Whilst this is an achievement in itself, it is perhaps significant that the majority are existing Sky customers who are merely converting the service to the digital platform. It has… Continue reading Christmas Developments
As is traditional at the time of year, Christmas Day TV saw BBC1 taking a decidedly larger portion of the viewing pie than its commercial rival, ITV. This year BBC1’s festive offerings drew in almost 70% of the top ten Christmas Day programmes in terms of audience size. The remaining slots in the chart went… Continue reading BBC1 Cleans Up On Christmas Day
A union of the UK’s largest radio companies is developing sponsorship packages that will allow advertisers to buy across stations owned by Capital Radio, EMAP Radio, GWR Group and Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) during international sports events. The packages will offer advertisers the opportunity to endorse events such as the Rugby and Cricket World Cups,… Continue reading Top Radio Groups Create Sports Sponsorship Packages
