Standing Committee on Transfrontier Television: Opinion on Split-screen Advertising

IRIS 2002-6:1/3

Ramón Prieto Suárez

Council of Europe, Directorate of Human Rights

Following lengthy discussions within the Council of Europe's Standing Committee on Transfrontier Television during the past two years, an opinion on split-screen advertising (simultaneous transmission of a programme and television advertising) was adopted by the Committee on 29 April 2002, acknowledging that this practice was a form of advertising covered by the Convention, under the term "other forms of advertising" employed in the Convention.

In its opinion, the Standing Committee does not enter into details on what conditions or criteria such advertisements should meet, for example the maximum size of the advertising window, but simply says that this practice is only acceptable if it complies with all the advertising provisions of the Convention, including the need to ensure a clear and recognisable separation of programming and advertising content (Article 13) and the need to respect time constraints (Article 12).