The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland has today (September 30th) published rules regarding ‘Advertising and Teleshopping Daily and Hourly Limits’. The rules relate to the total daily times permitted to transmit advertising and teleshopping material. They also specify the maximum period in any given hour that can devoted to advertising or teleshopping. The legislation further provides that the Commission can differentiate between different types of broadcasters in setting out daily and hourly limits. The BCI was required to prepare these rules under Section 19(3) of the Broadcasting Act, 2001.
The Rules as published today limit advertising minutes for commercial broadcasters to 10 minutes in the clock hour and to a maximum daily amount of 15% of airtime. Community broadcasters may carry no more than 6 minutes of advertising per clock hour, while institutional and special event temporary broadcasters are not permitted to carry any advertising. With regard to teleshopping; the daily limit on teleshopping on a channel not exclusively devoted to teleshopping is 3 hours. Individual teleshopping segments must be of a minimum duration of 15 minutes and no more than eight segments are permitted per day. These time limits do not apply to channels exclusively devoted to teleshopping.
Commenting on the publication of the rules, Chief Executive of the BCI Michael O’Keeffe said: “While the new regulatory authority, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland will have a statutory obligation to develop rules in this area, it is the BCI’s view that the introduction of Advertising and Teleshopping Rules at this time is necessary in the interests of good regulation. The Rules will ensure regulatory certainty prior to the commencement of the BAI and until such time as the BAI considers whether a more fundamental review of the Rules is desirable”.