17th Nov 2006 10:00
Office of Communications17 November 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEW RESTRICTIONS ON THE TELEVISION ADVERTISING OF FOOD AND DRINK PRODUCTS TO CHILDREN 17 November 2006 Ofcom today published details of significant restrictions intended to limitchildren's exposure to television advertising of food and drink products high infat, salt and sugar. Its conclusions follow extensive public consultation and adetailed programme of audience and focus group research, economic analysis andpeer review of available scientific evidence. After a detailed examination of consultation responses and all availableevidence, and in light of its statutory duties, Ofcom has published thefollowing measures: RESTRICTIONS • Ofcom has decided that one of its regulatory objectives is to reducesignificantly the exposure of children under 16 to the advertising of food anddrink products that are high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS). • Ofcom will seek to achieve this by the most targeted andproportionate means possible, balancing this objective against its statutoryduties to secure television programmes of high quality and wide appeal. • Ofcom has also decided that restrictions targeting the advertisingof HFSS products will use the current Nutrient Profiling scheme developed by theFood Standards Agency. • On the balance of the evidence, Ofcom believes that the best way toachieve its objectives would be a total ban on HFSS food and drinkadvertisements in and around all programmes of particular appeal to childrenunder the age of 16, broadcast at any time of day or night on any channel. • This would include a total ban in and around all children'sprogramming and on dedicated children's channels as well as in youth-orientedand adult programmes which attract a significantly higher than averageproportion of viewers under the age of 16. • As a result of Ofcom's decision to target regulation to ensure theprotection of the under-16s - as opposed to the under-9s, as first proposed -there will be a short and focused consultation to seek views on extendingrestrictions to protect these older children. This will close before Christmaswith the final determination in January 2007. • In addition to general content rules requiring responsibleadvertising to all children at all times, Ofcom has also put forward new ruleson the content of advertisements targeted at primary school children. Theserules would ban the use of celebrities and characters licensed fromthird-parties (such as cartoons), promotional claims (such as free gifts) andhealth or nutrition claims. • All restrictions on product advertising will apply equally toproduct sponsorship. • The restrictions would apply to all broadcasters licensed by Ofcomand based in the UK, including international broadcasters transmitting from theUK to audiences overseas. EFFECTIVENESS AND REVENUE IMPACT • Under this package of measures, in households where children'sviewing includes a large number of programmes targeted at adults as well asprogrammes for children and young people, children under 16 would see 41% fewerHFSS food and drink advertisements. For under-9s the reduction would be 51%. • There would be greater reductions in digital television householdswhere children's programmes, dedicated children's channels and programmes ofparticular appeal to under-16s make up a growing share of viewing by the young. • Ofcom has estimated that the impact on total broadcast revenueswould be up to £39m per year, falling to around £23m as broadcasters mitigaterevenue loss over time. The commercial public service broadcasters (ITV plc,GMTV, Channel 4, and five) could lose up to 0.7% of their total revenues.Children's and youth-oriented cable and satellite channels could lose up to 8.8%of their total revenues; up to 15% of total revenues in the case of dedicatedchildren's channels. TIMING AND FUTURE REVIEW • Changes to rules governing the content of advertisements would takeeffect before the end of January 2007. New campaigns commissioned after thatpoint would be required to comply with the new rules. • However, advertising campaigns already underway or in the finalstages of creative execution at the end of January 2007 would be allowed to bebroadcast until the end of June 2007. After that point all advertising wouldhave to conform to the new content rules. • Changes to scheduling rules affecting advertisements seen by theunder-16s would come into effect from the end of March 2007, before Easter. • Restrictions would be phased in over 24 months to the end of 2008for dedicated children's channels where the ability to substitute revenues fromfood and drink advertising would be more difficult to achieve quickly. • Ofcom will review the effectiveness and scope of new restrictions inautumn 2008, one year after the full implementation of the new content rules. Ofcom Chief Executive Ed Richards said: "Based on the evidence and analysis webelieve the case for intervention is clear. We will introduce significant butproportionate measures to protect children under 16." He added: "We will look to advertisers and broadcasters to follow both thespirit as well as the letter of the rules we are putting in place." OFCOM ROLE On 1 December 2003 the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport TessaJowell asked Ofcom to consider proposals to strengthen rules on food and drinkadvertising to children. In response, Ofcom undertook a comprehensive analysisof the available scientific and audience data to assess the extent to whichtelevision advertising influenced children's food preferences. The research included 2,000 interviews with children, parents and teachers aswell as details of family eating habits drawn from a panel of 11,000 people. Itdemonstrated that television advertising has a direct effect on children'sdietary preferences; however its impact is modest when compared to other factorssuch as parental influence, trends in family eating habits, school policy,public understanding of nutrition, food labelling and exercise. Such advertisingalso has a larger indirect effect on food and drink choices, although thiscannot be quantified. With the publication of the research in July 2004, Ofcom concluded that targetedrestrictions were warranted as part of a wider range of policy measures, to beundertaken by Government and others, to tackle childhood obesity. It alsoconcluded those restrictions should be proportionate, reflecting the limitedrole played by television advertising in shaping children's diets whileacknowledging the potential for a significant impact on broadcasters of areduction in advertising revenue. In March 2006, once the Food Standards Agency had completed work on its NutrientProfiling scheme (developed specifically to enable differentiation inadvertising) and the Government had published its Health White Paper, Ofcompublished a public consultation seeking views on the most appropriate newmeasures. Ofcom received more than 1,000 responses from a broad range ofindividuals and organisations with widely differing perspectives. Ofcom's broadcasting duties include responsibility for setting standards intelevision advertising; its statutory objectives also include the protection ofchildren. In fulfilling these objectives, Ofcom additionally has statutoryobligations to secure a wide range of television services of high quality andwide appeal, offered to audiences by a range of different broadcasters. Taken together, Ofcom believes the restrictions would have a significant effecton the volume and nature of television advertising of food and drink products tochildren. In reaching its view, Ofcom has sought to balance these duties, actingto protect children while acknowledging its obligations to secure programmesfrom broadcasters upon whom these measures would have a commercial impact. DETAILS OF SPECIFIC MEASURES NUTRIENT PROFILING: Restrictions will be targeted at food and drink productsrated as high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) according to the Nutrient Profilingscheme developed by the Food Standards Agency (FSA). However, food or drinkproducts which are below FSA thresholds may be advertised without schedulingrestrictions, providing an incentive for some manufacturers to reformulateexisting products as well as to develop new products which are low in fat, saltand sugar. Ofcom will look to the FSA to ensure that the Nutrient Profilingscheme remains in line with scientific thinking as it evolves over time. PROTECTION FOR Under-16s: A total ban, at all times of day and night and on allchannels, on the advertising of HFSS products in - or adjacent to - allprogrammes which have particular appeal to children under 16. This wouldprohibit advertising of HFSS food and drink products in, for example: • all pre-school children's programmes • all programming in children's airtime on commercial public servicebroadcast channels • all cable and satellite children's channels • youth-oriented programming (such as specialist music programmes) andprogrammes intended for adults which attract a significantly higher than averageproportion of viewers under the age of 16 - for example, some generalentertainment programmes. Ofcom's initial consultation proposals focused on the under-9s. However, inlight of consultation responses, Ofcom has decided that one of its objectives isto reduce significantly the exposure of children under 16 to the advertising ofHFSS food and drink products. As new restrictions for under-16s would beextended to include additional types of programmes on channels not previouslyidentified as the focus of potential intervention, Ofcom is seeking views onthis aspect through a short and focused consultation. This will close beforeChristmas with the final determination published in January 2007. ADDITIONAL RULES ON ADVERTISEMENT CONTENT: In addition to revised generalcontent rules requiring responsible advertising to all children at all times,Ofcom believes it is appropriate to impose new restrictions aimed at providing afurther level of protection. Advertisers promoting HFSS food and drink productswould not be able to: • show television advertisements targeted at primary school childrenwhich use celebrities or characters licensed from third-parties (such as cartooncharacters) which are popular with children; • use promotional activity such as free gifts in televisionadvertisements targeted at primary school children; or • make nutritional or health claims in television advertisementstargeted at primary school children. SPONSORSHIP AND BRAND ADVERTISING Restrictions on product advertising also apply to product sponsorship. Broadcast advertising regulation is predominantly product-based. Certainproducts may not be advertised (such as cigarettes); some cannot be advertisedaround certain programmes and with strict controls on creative executions (suchas alcohol); other products may be advertised without restriction. Brand advertising is permitted for all companies other than those wholly ormainly associated with specific types of product or service (such as tobacco)which have been explicitly prohibited from television advertising. There is noprohibition on brand advertising by companies whose portfolios include HFSS foodor drink products - goods which, unlike tobacco and alcohol, can legally be soldto children. However, Ofcom will look to advertisers to act responsibly in their widerinterpretation of, and response to, the measures to restrict HFSS productadvertising. The Government intends to conduct a review next year to determinechanges in the nature and balance of food promotion across broadcast andnon-broadcast media. This will then be followed by Ofcom's review, which Ofcomexpects to begin in autumn 2008. Should advertisers choose to use brandadvertising to seek to avoid product-based restrictions, this would form thefocus of scrutiny in future. OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED Ofcom considered a broad range of other options during the course of publicconsultation. However, in Ofcom's view, none of these achieved the right balancebetween imposing the restrictions required adequately to protect children whileavoiding a disproportionate impact on broadcasters with consequent effects onprogramme investment including original productions for children. Many consultation respondents, including the Food Standards Agency, theChildren's Commissioner, consumer bodies, health organisations and individuals,called for a ban on food and drink advertising before the 9pm watershed. While a 9pm watershed ban would remove a large number of HFSS advertisementsfrom television, when compared to other potential restrictions much of itseffect would fall on programmes of primary appeal to adults rather thanchildren. Audience data for 2005 demonstrates that, on average, under 16 yearolds watching programmes on ITV1, Channel 4 or five between 6pm and the 9pmwatershed are outnumbered nine-to-one by viewers over the age of 16. A 9pm watershed ban would also significantly reduce broadcaster revenues, to anextent inconsistent with a proportionate approach. The total potential revenueinvolved could be more than £250m per year; a figure which exceeds the entire UKcommercial television industry's investment in all children's television and allnational news coverage combined. In light of this and other evidence, and after carefully reviewing allconsultation responses, Ofcom has concluded that a 9pm watershed ban would be adisproportionate approach, particularly when compared to Ofcom's preferred focuson HFSS advertising around programmes and on channels of particular appeal tounder-16s. Separately, a number of advertisers and broadcasters jointly submitted a newalternative option which proposed some targeted limits on food and drinkadvertisements. However, Ofcom did not believe this proposal met its regulatoryobjective to reduce significantly the exposure of children under 16 to HFSS foodand drink product advertising. The Statement - including a consultation on the extension of rules to includechildren under 16 - can be found online at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/foodads_new/ The consultation will close on 15 December 2006. Ends. NOTES FOR EDITORS AND CSEs The letter to Ofcom from the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport canbe found online at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/about/accoun/emgd/jowell_currie.pdf Ofcom's July 2004 research on television advertising and childhood food anddrink preferences can be found online at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/tv/reports/food_ads/ Responses to Ofcom's public consultation, published in March 2006, can be foundonline at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/foodads/responses/ Further analysis by Opinion Leader Research published in October 2006 can befound online at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/tv/reports/regulating_tvadverts/ Further details of the Food Standards Agency Nutrient Profiling scheme can befound online at: http://www.food.gov.uk/healthiereating/advertisingtochildren/nutlab/nutprofmod Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for the UKcommunications industries, with responsibilities across television, radio,telecommunications and wireless communications services. For further details please visit www.ofcom.org.uk. CONTACT Ofcom Media [email protected](+44) (0)20 7981 3033 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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