egta has been in close contact with the European Commission & the other EU institutions to put forward our view that they need to consider a future-proof piece of legislation.

 

egta guide on understanding the AVMSD - available upon request; click here to learn more.

 

egta has been at the forefront of both discussions with the institutions, through workshops (Media Connect 1&2), attending industry forums such as the Media Talks along with speaking at institutional events on topics such as Connected TV and commercial communications.

 

Sales houses and broadcasters are embracing new techniques, which have greatly changed since the introduction of the AVMSD and while the cornerstones of that Directive, such as the protection of minors and the core qualitative values, remain appropriate, certain areas need to be looked at to ensure a truly competition-based regulatory framework. We believe that the Commission should assess whether the quantitative rules and the scope of the Directive are still fit for purpose in this new media environment.

For egta, the issue of data protection relates to the consumer’s information, especially in the field of online behavioural advertising (OBA). The practice of advertising based on users’ interests is a proven technique to engage with Internet users who have a genuine interest in particular product categories, and it will therefore often produce a higher ROI than other forms of advertising for brands.

 

 

egta welcomes the chance to streamline these rules, reducing the burdens on businesses and allowing broadcasters to collect and process personal data, thus permitting them to provide their services on new platforms and devices.

 

egta brief on General Data Protection Regulation

egta position paper on data protection

egta overview on implementation of the e-privacy directive - document available upon request. Please contact the egta team.

Alcoholic drinks are not ordinary consumer goods. When inappropriately consumed, there is a potential for abusing alcoholic beverages, which can lead a small proportion of the population and particularly vulnerable people to dependence and/or harmful conduct. For these reasons, legislative measures have governed the advertising of alcoholic beverages in Europe for the last 15 years. Many of these EU-wide restrictions were established by the Television without Frontiers Directive, strengthened in the AVMSD, and many Member States have taken additional restrictive measures. In addition, the advertising industry polices itself thanks to agreed standards that are designed to eliminate inappropriate advertising and to initiate a range of socially responsible messages preventing any abuse of alcohol.

Food & beverage advertising to children, overview of regulation and self-regulation in the EU - document available upon request. Please contact the egta team.

egta and its sales house members are fully aware of the specific features of prescription pharmaceutical products as opposed to general consumer goods. They are therefore also aware of the need to discriminate between commercial communications for on-prescription medicines, which are currently prohibited on television by means of the AVMSD, from the provision of branded information to consumers on medical products received upon request. egta also believes that the distinction currently applied by the AVMSD for governing advertising for medicinal products, between medicines that are only available on prescription and over-the-counter medical products (OTC), is a valid principle for applying different layers of regulation to advertisements for different categories of medicinal products, and it should, therefore, be preserved. This distinction is justified by the fact that advertising for medicinal products that do not require the supervision of a medical practitioner (i.e. over-the-counter medicines) can play an essential role in providing consumers with brand awareness and information on the product and, therefore, in ensuring effective free competition to the benefit of the industry and consumers alike.

 

egta overview on pharmaceutical advertising - document available upon request. Please contact the egta team.

 

Compulsory/warning messages are often used by legislators as a means to inform and protect consumers. However, this generally disregards several practical issues.

 

egta has always highlighted that radio is not the appropriate channel to provide consumers with detailed technical information. This is based on two facts: firstly, that findings show that consumers, when searching for detailed information before making a purchase decision, do not seek such information in advertising; and secondly, each medium has its own specificities that need to be taken into account. The short duration, the linear nature of the media and the need for highly creative content mean that television and radio advertising are not well suited to carrying detailed technical information in an understandable way.

 

There are, in fact, more appropriate and efficient communication channels available to reach consumers with the specific information they need at the time of taking their decision, such as supplier literature or a specific call in the advert to visit a website for more information.

 

Unnecessary warning messages lower media’s attractiveness to advertisers, thus diminishing sources of revenue and endangering quality content creation.

 

Legal caveats in advertising – a snapshot of the main studies - document available upon request. Please contact the egta team.

egta overview on compulsory messages in radio advertising - document available upon request. Please contact the egta team.

The fast-paced progress of online technology, with the development of mobile phones and smartphones, tablets and digital TV, goes hand-in-hand with an increase in the offer and use of online gambling services in Europe. With close to 7 million EU consumers participating in online gambling services, the EU online gambling market represents 45% of the world market share. In 2008, online gambling accounted for annual revenues of €6.16 billion, and available figures projected that figure to double to €13 billion in 2015.

 

In the EU, there is no specific regulation on the airtime of gambling advertising; it falls into the advertising subject to 12 minutes an hour on TV.

 

In 2014, the European Commission adopted a Recommendation on online gambling services. The Recommendation states that advertising and sponsorship of online gambling services should be more socially responsible and transparent. The Recommendation does not introduce binding rules for the Member States but rather is intended to act as a catalyst for the development of consistent principles to be applied throughout the European Union.

Why does this matter for broadcasters? The real bone of contention is regarding retransmission fees and compensation for carriage of programmes. While not common in the EU, cable groups in the US pay to carry the main free-to-air channels – what is known as retransmission fees – which amounted to an estimated $3.3bn in 2013. For many broadcasters, this could be a new source of revenue that is not always currently available to them.