unicornnews: ITV criticise product placement ruling

ITV boss Michael Grade has hit out at the previously reported news that the government will not lift the ban on product placement in British television programmes.

After a three month consultation, Culture Minister Andy Burnham announced yesterday that he felt the economic benefits of product placement – allowing brands to pay for their products to appear in TV shows – did not outweigh concerns about blurring the line between editorial and advertising.

Grade has responded by calling for a judicial review of the decision, telling reporters: “Given the extraordinary economic pressures ITV, and others, face, we can’t let a decision like this simply go through without trying to fight it. We are considering our next steps and I am consulting my legal team as to whether we have a strong case for judicial review”.

On the government’s claims that they were protecting the public from excessive placement, and confusing messages, Grade added: “Our audiences are savvier than the government thinks. It is simply not in our interest to ‘contaminate’ programmes with product placement which would irritate them and prompt them to switch over. We believe that considered product placement would [actually] bring more realism to programming, portraying a world that is recognisable and relevant”.

Grade also criticised the government’s existing policy on product placement – which will now stay in place – which allows UK TV networks to screen movies and imported shows which feature product placement, but not home grown programmes. He continued: “I shall also be writing to the chief executive of Ofcom to ask what measures he intends to introduce to ‘protect’ viewers from those programmes and films that already contain product placement and which have been broadcast on British television for many years. The government should at least be taking a consistent position”.

But ITV’s rivals Channel 4 spoke out in favour of the government’s ruling on this matter, despite them too suffering from the decline in traditional advertising revenues. Their top man, Andy Duncan, said in a statement: “Channel 4 supports the decision on product placement. We have consistently taken the view that confusing the lines between editorial and advertising raises serious issues of trust for viewers. Relaxing the rules would deliver a marginal commercial benefit and do little to redress the growing funding imbalance between state and advertising funded broadcasting”.

Posted Thursday March 12 2009 by Chris Cooke

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