'Ridiculous' ad rules threaten ITV, Ofcom warned

ITV's business model will "melt away" if the ban on product placement on TV is not relaxed, Peter Bazalgette has warned.
Mr Bazalgette, chief creative officer of Big Brother producer Endemol, said the threat posed by personal video recorders to commercial TV was one of the most important issues facing the broadcasting industry.

He called on media regulator Ofcom to relax "ridiculous" rules that prevent product placement and severely limit advertiser-funded programmes to allow commercial broadcasters to replace income from traditional spot ads.

"If you don't have product placement in the UK in the relatively near future, ITV's business model will melt away. That big, advertiser-funded business will be a goner," Mr Bazalgette told today's Institute of Economic Affairs conference on the future of broadcasting.

"There are movies on every night that have product placement, next to programmes that aren't allowed to do it. It's ridiculous.

"Is this going to happen right away? No. But in the next five to 10 years. It's actually one of the most important economic issues facing this industry now," Mr Bazalgette said.

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