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Foreword

(a) This document sets out the rules that Ofcom requires television broadcasters licensed by it to observe on the amount, scheduling and presentation of advertising. Standards for the content of television advertising are administered by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) [www.asa.org.uk].

(b) Section 322 of the Communications Act 2003 gives Ofcom the power to give directions to its licensees on these matters and this document sets out the basic regime to which these directions will refer.

(c) These rules give effect to requirements laid down in the EU Directive on Television Broadcasting 89/552/EEC of 3 October 1989 (as amended by Directive 97/36/EC of 19 June 1997), and the 1989 Council of Europe Convention on Transfrontier Television.

The rules are of three kinds:

1. those which apply to all services and appear as plain text;


2. those which apply only to Channel 3 (ITV and GMTV), Channel 4, Channel 5 and the ‘qualifying’ (ie: ‘simulcast’) digital services of these channels. These are identified by (A) after the rule number. (Note that the rules for Channel 4 also apply to S4C);


3. those which apply only to services other than Channels 3-5 and their ‘qualifying’ digital services. These are identified by (B) after the rule number.

(d) Ofcom does not believe there is a case for imposing substantially greater restrictions than those required by the EU Directive on services other than Channels 3-5. Rules in this area are principally concerned with limiting interference to programmes from too much or too frequent advertising, and with ensuring that the time set aside for advertising does not curtail excessively the time available for programmes proper. These matters relate to the quality and value to viewers of the services concerned. Ofcom does not have a remit to influence programme quality on services other than Channels 3-5; its role is confined to enforcing consumer protection standards in areas defined by the Communications Act and implementing the United Kingdom’s obligations under international instruments. In the case of Channels 3-5 Ofcom’s remit does extend to the quality and value these services provide to viewers and it believes that in some cases more demanding standards than those required by the Directive remain justified.

(e) The European instruments give discretion to national authorities not to apply the requirements relating to amount and distribution of advertising to broadcasts intended solely for one EU Member State or Convention Party which may not be received, directly or indirectly, in any other such State or Party. In the case of satellite services, Ofcom will not regard a service as qualifying for consideration under this criterion unless its signal is encrypted and neither its service nor its means of decryption is marketed outside the single EU Member State or Convention Party concerned. Any licensee wishing to have any part of these Rules disapplied in relation to their service must obtain the prior approval in writing of Ofcom. Ofcom will only agree to such requests if it is satisfied that there are particular circumstances which warrant this and that to do so would not confer an unfair competitive advantage on the service concerned.

The full document is available below

• Rules on the amount and distribution of advertising [pdf]
  Full print version - Note: Section 5.6(b), which applies to Channels 3-5 only, amended 10 July 2006

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