EAO Report on Commercial Communications provides practical insight on AVMS implementation

The European Audiovisual Observatory has published a IRIS Plus report titled “Commercial communications in the AVMSD revision” in October 2017. The objective of this free-of-charge report is to briefly present the market reality of the sector and the new challenges posed by the digital advertising ecosystem in order to confront it to the current relevant legislation and the on-going revision process of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). For practitioners, the great added value of this document are the numerous, carefully researched comparative tables proposed in a 30-page annex.

• The first chapter briefly introduces the recent market developments which have triggered the AVMSD revision: the growing online advertising market generated in 2016 more advertising spend in Europe than the TV sector. However, this growth is not equally shared among the players in the advertising ecosystem as Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. hold together 20% share of the global advertising market in 2016.

• The second chapter considers the applicable rules as defined by the current AVMSD, investigating both the general rules for commercial communications on whatever type of audiovisual services and the specific ones applicable to television advertising, teleshopping and product placement, as well as the other directives which are mentioned in the AVMSD.

• Chapter 3 analyses the concrete national implementation of the rules, with regard to both the general qualitative restrictions and the more stringent ones applicable to sponsorship and product placement, as well as to the quantitative restrictions applicable to linear transmissions.The concrete national transposition of rules relating to product placement and the 12-minute rule are detailed in the Annexes 1, 2 and 3 of the report.

• Self- and co- regulatory initiatives at international and EU level are dealt with in chapter 4,with particular emphasis on unhealthy foods and beverages and alcohol advertising. A comprehensive overview of the self- and co- regulatory schemes in commercial communications in the EU-28 is mapped in the Annex 4 of the publication.

• Relevant judiciary and administrative caselaw at European and national level is examined in chapter 5, with particular attention paid to the definitions, advertising limits and stricter rules applicable to linear transmissions. Again, a comprehensive overview of the most significant national case law and decisions of regulatory bodies over the period 2012-2017 is listed in Tables 5 and 6 of the publication Annex.

• The final chapter provides an overview of the ongoing AVMSD reform and analyses the proposal tabled by the European Commission in May 2016 in light of the amendments proposed by both the European Parliament and the European Council in May 2017 with regard to definitions and general principles, advertising and teleshopping rules, and provisions concerning sponsorship and product placement. The entire revision process of definitions and general principles can be found in Tables 7, 8 and 9 of the Annex.

Commercial communications in the AVMSD revision: new IRIS Plus

Source: European Audiovisual Observatory

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The regulation of Commercial Communications is a subject which traditionally features highly on EPRA's agenda.  On 13 October 2017 during the 46th EPRA Meeting in Vienna, participants discussed Minors’ advertising literacy in the digital age.  Prof. Eva Lievens of Ghent University presented the research findings of the on-going AdLit study while a regulators' panel from Austria, Germany and Norway reported on experiences and recent activities with regard to online advertising and minors and shared views with the audience on the shape of future regulation.