ITV has suffered from not showing ads during its 'News at Nine' bulletin, shifted from 10pm since the war began. However, according to a report in the Independent on Sunday, this is due to lack of advertiser interest and not an editorial decision. The paper quotes Steve Anderson, controller of news and current affairs at ITV, as saying: "[Advertisers] don't want to be associated with news and destruction."
Advertisers, including Procter & Gamble, have pulled ads so as to avoid having their brands promoted during war coverage, leading to reports that Granada has been losing as much as 5% of peak-time revenue. Now the ITC is to allow the broadcasters to run extra ads to make up for the shortfall.
At Carlton's AGM last month, chairman Michael Green warned that the coming months could be challenging, depending on how advertisers reacted to the war. The decision by the ITC to allow it to screen extra ads could mean that, in the long run, it loses little money. However, there are still the extra costs of the numerous camera crews and journalists covering the conflict from the Middle East.
Channel 4 has said that advertising during its evening news bulletin had not been affected by the outbreak of war. However, there are reports that an unnamed Sunday newspaper did withdraw a promotion for a free CD called 'Love Around the World', deeming it to be an inappropriate time to release a CD with that title.
In the US, several advertisers have also decided not to broadcast during news bulletins, including Procter & Gamble, which owns brands such as Pringles and Clairol, and Kraft, owner of Philadelphia cream cheese, Oreo cookies, Jell-O and Kool-Aid.
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