It remains unclear how much say advertisers will have in the appointment, which will be critical to safeguarding their interests, since the remedy is complex and the detail is open to interpretation.
The remedy, a system of contract rights renewals, allows advertisers to roll over their 2003 contracts, which incorporate negotiated discounts to ITV prices, for a period of at least three years. Advertisers will be allowed to vary their ITV share commitments in line with any falls in ITV audience share.
There are nine provisions supporting the remedy, including the right for advertisers to switch between media agencies, for media agencies to merge and the right for advertisers to move off ITV for a period of time.
However, many of these changes to contracts require the approval of ITV, which could lead to a flood of references to the adjudicator.
Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt's has set a deadline of November 7 for implementation of the remedy, in time for this winter's TV negotiating round.
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