Carter said that since advertisers funded £5.1bn of commercial TV production, compared with the £1.8bn spent by the BBC, it was important that the advertising industry plays an important part in the review. Ofcom will set out details of how the review will be conducted in early autumn.
His official recognition of advertisers' role in such debates will go some way to assuaging their concerns that the BBC will not be regulated by Ofcom.
At the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers' annual lunch on Tuesday, Carter also criticised Lord Puttnam's recent amendment to the Communications Bill, designed to ensure that the interests of 'citizens' are placed at the heart of Ofcom's duties.
The government was defeated on the issue in the House of Lords by a rebellion led by Puttnam last month.
Carter said the amendment marked a considerable departure from the remit of existing broadcast regulators - the Independent Television Commission and the Radio Authority - which aim to balance the wider public interest with the priorities of broadcast consumers. Instead, Ofcom would be required to give primacy to the public interest at all time in broadcasting.
Ofcom's promised lighter touch on regulation will have to recognise European rules to prevent misleading or harmful ads, warned Carter. But he confirmed that Ofcom would seek to co-regulate and welcomed the work of the joint advertiser and broadcaster task force to develop a co-regulatory scheme for broadcast advertising.
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