ITC retains rules on the cross-promotion of ITV Digital

LONDON - A new set of rules published by the Independent Television Commission has made no change to regulations preventing the cross-promotion of digital platforms, which would have given ITV greater freedom to promote ITV Digital on ITV1.

The consultation had been set up to look at whether the current cross-promotion rules needed to be changed to cope with the increasing amount of digital channels and services in the UK.



However, after two rounds of consultation with industry and the public, the regulator has decided to leave everything as it was, but bring all the rules into one document, whereas previously they had been scattered among other codes.



Last year, there was much speculation that ITV Digital would be allowed to be promoted outside advertising scheduling time on its sister service ITV1. However, existing rules, which prevent ITV Digital being mentioned by name without its rival platforms being named, have been retained.



The ITC had also proposed to set a time limit on the amount of cross-promotion of an analogue broadcaster's terrestrial digital services or channels to 90 seconds in each hour.



However, the ITC has decided to leave this to the discretion of the broadcaster and rely on the public to let it know if the amount of cross-promotion of these services is too great.



The rules are meant to allow all UK commercial broadcasters under the ITC's guidance -- which includes all channels except the BBC -- to promote their services to customers but without infringing upon viewer's enjoyment or behaving anti-competitively.



"It is in the viewers' interests for the broadcasters' economies to be healthy and for other viewers to be drawn to certain services because it creates more choice for the viewer. But we have to guard against anti-competitive behaviour and the distortion of the viewer's enjoyment," a spokeswoman for the ITC said.



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Claire Billings, recommends

ITC

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