Ban on TV product plugs could be lifted

A 50-year ban on plugs in TV shows for commercial products ranging from beers in Coronation Street's Rovers' Return to cars in The Bill could be swept away by TV regulators, it emerged today.

Such a change could cause immediate controversy but open up new channels for advertisers, who find it increasingly difficult to get the attention of viewers in an age where personal video recorders allow audiences to fast forward through commercial breaks.

Stephen Carter, the chief executive of media regulator Ofcom, told a meeting of the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers today that the media watchdog recognised that limits on TV sponsorship in Britain were restrictive and he was sympathetic to change.

One area of change could be product placement - banned in Britain since the birth of commercial television 50 years ago - which has existed in films for all that time, Mr Carter said.

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