France

Temporary authorisation for televised cinema ads extended for 18 months

IRIS 2022-9:1/7

Amélie Blocman

Légipresse

Based on Articles 27 and 33 of the Law of 30 September 1986, the decree of 3 October 2022 extends the temporary authorisation of television advertising for the cinema sector by 18 months, postponing its expiry from 6 October 2022 to 6 April 2024 on account of the unusual nature of the period since authorisation was granted, which has rendered it impossible to fully assess the consequences of the measure. Initially introduced under the decree of 5 August 2020 (until 6 February 2022), the authorisation had already been extended through Article 10 of decree no. 2021-1922 of 30 December 2021 to take into account the closure of cinemas from the end of October 2020 during the second national lockdown. Article 3(II) of the decree of 5 August 2020 stated that “in order to decide whether to continue with this provision, the government will publish a report evaluating the impact of its implementation on the cinema sector.”

Published by the Ministry of Culture in July 2022, this report stresses that the unusual nature of the period on the one hand, and a lack of data on the other, has made it impossible to fully assess the consequences of the measure. It has therefore been extended for a second time for a further 18 months. A new report will be published within the three months prior to the new deadline of 6 April 2024.

Since decree no. 2020-983 of 5 August 2020 amending television advertising rules came into force, television broadcasters have also been allowed to use targeted advertising based on different broadcast areas and certain socio-demographic viewer data. The government was also required to publish a report on the impact of these provisions. The report states that the use of targeted advertising on television remains in an embryonic stage. As a result, it is unclear whether it has taken advertising income away from other local media. Furthermore, although the market is still developing, it seems unlikely that such advertising on television will ever reach the level of targeting used by digital platforms. Consequently, the authorisation of targeted advertising will be the subject of a new impact report in 24 months’ time.