Search results : 234

On 10 September 2010, the Flemish Government issued a decision on the use of a logo for the indication of product placement, which was made public on 6 October 2010. The decision obliges broadcasters to display the logo in a clear and contrastive way for at least five seconds at the beginning and at the end of programmes containing product placement and after every break. The decision further stipulates some requirements as to place (top or bottom, at the right side of the screen), size, colour, and transparency of the logo. The logo should be displayed in a neutral way, which means that the products...

On 28 September 2010, the Kamer voor Onpartijdigheid en Bescherming van Minderjarigen (Chamber for Impartiality and the Protection of Minors) of the Vlaamse Regulator voor de Media (Flemish Regulator for the Media) considered sexually explicit teletext messages transmitted by the commercial broadcasters VMMa, SBS Belgium and MTV Networks Belgium. The Flemish Media Decree prohibits the broadcasting of any programmes that could cause serious detriment to the physical, mental or moral development of minors. However, broadcasting of such programmes is allowed where it is ensured, by selecting the time...

On 21 September 2010, the Belgian Jury voor Ethische Praktijken inzake Reclame (Jury for Ethical Practices Concerning Advertising) issued a decision on a complaint, lodged by a member of the public, against the Flemish public broadcasting corporation VRT. The Jury is the self-regulatory authority of the advertising and marketing sector in Belgium (for more information, see IRIS 2010-1: 1/9). The VRT had produced and broadcast a television spot promoting the radio programme “All Areas”, which reports live from various music festivals for the public broadcaster’s youth station “Studio Brussel”. The...

Once again, the Vlaamse Regulator voor de Media (Flemish Regulator for the Media - monitoring and enforcement of media regulation) has rendered decisions relating to forbidden product placement. Although the two cases both present similar facts, only the first decision, against the commercial broadcaster VMMa, is explicitly grounded in the regulation on product placement. The second, against the public broadcasting corporation VRT, concerns a radio programme, hence the new regulation on product placement is not applicable in this case (see Article 98 of the new Flemish Media Decree). On 26 April...

The new rules for product placement are without doubt creating problems for public-sector broadcasters in Belgium. Following on from the two cases involving VRT (see IRIS 2010-5: 1/9 and IRIS 2010-7: 1/7), it is now the turn of RTBF to be ordered by the Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel (audiovisual regulatory body - CSA) to pay a fine of EUR 10,000 and to broadcast a communiqué for having failed to observe the statutory provisions concerning product placement. In February 2010, to mark the Chinese New Year, RTBF broadcast a daily micro-programme devoted to Eastern cookery entitled “A table on...