France

[FR] Canal+ Sport Receives Serious Warning from the CSA to Abide by Regulations on Advertising

IRIS 2011-6:1/18

Amélie Blocman

Légipresse

The Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel (audiovisual regulatory body - CSA) sent a “serious warning” to the channel Canal+ Sport further to the repeat showing on 8 November 2010, between 12 noon and 6 p.m., of the broadcast of a tennis match during which the name of a brand of beer appeared 195 times for an aggregate time of 24 minutes, 34 seconds, contrary to the ban on all advertising or promotion of alcoholic beverages provided for in Article L. 3323-2 of the Public Health Code and Article 8 of the Decree of 27 March 1992. The CSA also found fault with the channel that the bank partnering the competition had benefited from over-exposure, particularly by means of the appearance, by insertion of its logo on the screen for an aggregate time of 8 minutes, 40 seconds and by the broadcasting, thirty times, of a short full-screen animated film of the logo, contrary to the ban on surreptitious advertising provided for in Article 9 of the Decree of 27 March 1992. The CSA also noted that the sponsorship by a brand of watches was not clearly identified, contrary to the obligation to clearly identify sponsored television broadcasts provided for in the first paragraph of Article 18-III of the Decree of 27 March 1992. Lastly, the CSA noted the presence of many insertions in English that were not translated into French, and reminded the channel that it needed to make more of an effort to provide French translations of insertions that appeared on the screen in English.