Ofcom’s plans to relax television advert rules will ‘slash time left for news’ on ITV and Channel 4
- Ofcom previously announced it would allow ITV and C4 to show more adverts
- New rules would allow channels to show on average 12 minutes of ads per hour
- Industry body says more ads could cut 115 hours of news broadcasting a year
Plans by Ofcom to relax advertising rules could mean ITV and Channel 4 losing nearly 28 minutes of news every weekday, it has been claimed.
The media regulator said in April that it was preparing to allow these public service channels to show more adverts after provisionally deciding that current rules are not ‘justified or proportionate’.
But industry body COBA said its research shows this could mean these biggest commercial channels cutting 115 hours of public service news broadcasting each year.
COBA, which represents digital, cable and satellite broadcasters, claimed the changes could see the total amount of advertising rise by up to 48 minutes a day on each channel.
Plans by Ofcom to relax advertising rules could mean ITV and Channel 4 losing nearly 28 minutes of news every weekday
Ofcom’s plans would let these stations show an average of 12 minutes of adverts an hour, like non-public service channels
Ofcom’s plans would let these stations show an average of 12 minutes of adverts an hour, like non-public service channels.
The Mail has revealed how the changes could lead to 730 hours more of adverts a year on public service TV.
An ITV spokesman said regulations protect public service broadcasting news. Channel 4 said the analysis is ‘conjecture’.
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