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Since the inception of commercial television in the UK, there has been a voluntary prohibition on the advertising of branded alcoholic spirits - e.g. whisky, vodka and gin. Distillers have promoted certain drinks, such as Drambuie and Cointreau, only as 'after-dinner' drinks. Spirits have been advertised during this period in the cinema, but the rules relating to television advertising and alcohol are more strict, being covered by the EC Television Without Frontiers Directive and the Independent Television Commission's Code of Advertising (Section 39). According to these rules, no television advertisement...

The House of Lord's Select Committee on the European Communities has published its Report which considers two Community proposals: COM (94) 96 (on strategy options to strengthen the European programme industry in the context of the audio-visual policy of the EC) and COM (94) 353 final (the follow-up to the consultation process relating to the Green Paper on "Pluralism and media concentration in the Internal Market - an assessment of the need for Community action"; see IRIS 1995-1: 7 and IRIS 1995-2: 5). The Committee produced twenty-eight recommendations on the basis of oral and written evidence...

An amendment to the ITC's Code of Advertising Standards and Practice now allows football pools advertising on television. The change, which has taken effect from 1 April 1995, was prompted by a Government invitation for the ITC to review its present code. Previously advertising for the National Lottery was allowed but, in keeping with previous Government policy, advertising for betting and gaming - including the pools - was prohibited. The change is Government policy relates only to the football pools. The Home Secretary announced on 25 January of this year an intention to conduct consultations...

The High Court has confirmed the interpretation adopted by the Radio Authority of the concept of control in the legal provisions limiting the multiple holding of radio licences in the UK. The law is extremely complex, but to summarise, the Broadcasting Act 1990 and the Broadcasting (Restriction of the Holding of Licences) Order 1991 prohibit the holding of more than six such licences. In order to avoid the effect of this section, a company made arrangements to create a new company to hold licences on its behalf; shares would be owned equally in it by the first company and its bankers; the first...

The imminent onset of video-on-demand, pay-per-view and near-video-on-demand services has caused the Independent Television Commission to reconsider its policy as regards the viewing of unsuitable material by children. The existing approach is spelt out in the Family Viewing Policy within the ITC Programme Code and largely relies on scheduling controls. The review recognises that the newer services are watched as a result of an individual decision to pay to watch. This implemented by technical means, which restrict access to someone properly authorised, and in possession of a billing PIN number....