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The Court of Appeal has upheld the reasonableness of the decision of the Radio Authority that Amnesty International UK is an "unacceptable advertiser" in terms of the advertising code of practice. The Code stipulates that "No advertisment may be broadcast by, or on behalf of, any body whose objects are wholly or mainly of a political nature." Amnesty International had sought to run a national radio advertising campaign, during 1994, deploring the situation in Rwanda. The Court interpreted the phrase "wholly or mainly" to mean at least 75%, and, in this case, the Master of the Rolls said that "...

The UK Government has now announced details of the formula for increases over the next five years in the licence fee which funds the BBC. The fee is payable annually by all users of television sets, irrespective of viewing habits, and permits the BBC to be free of the commercial pressures of advertising as no advertisements are carried on its services. The current figure for a colour television licence is £89.50 per year. In order to minimise governmental pressure which could occur if the funding were renegotiated each year, the new formula is linked to the annual inflation rate, determined by...

The Independent Television Commission (ITC) has issued a draft code of conduct on licensing (analogue and digital) Electronic Programme Guides (EPG), for which the consultation period ran until 7 February 1997. In broad terms, an EPG service has two main functions. It allows a broadcaster to promote and provide information about his programme or additional services and to market and package them in manner which is likely to be more convenient for viewers. It is also seen as the only manageable way to select a programme in the near future with the expansion of the number of television services through...

The UK Director General of Fair Trading has issued a report on the BBC's performance in meeting its quota of programmes to be made by independent producers; he is obliged to issue such a report every year. The quota is that not less than 25% of broadcasting time must be allocated to the broadcasting of a range and diversity of independent productions. The report found that the BBC met the target for the year 1 April 1995 to 31 March 1996 with 28.1% of programmes made by independent producers. This represented an increase from 26.5% in the previous year. The Director General was also satisfied that...

The Department of National Heritage concluded a month's negotiations with the BBC, the Independent Television Commission (ITC), and the Broadcasting Standards Council (BSC) by agreeing on a `programme of action' which is the latest attempt to deal with the public's concern regarding violent programming on television. The programme contains four points: the three regulators will continue their efforts to ensure that programme makers adhere to and maintain the proper standards and that any transgressions will be `firmly' dealt with; the three bodies will work together to `educate viewers' about the...