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On 27 February 2024, the European Parliament adopted, by 470 in favour to 50 against (and 105 abstentions), the proposal for a regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising. This much-anticipated proposed regulation was first published by the European Commission in November 2021, and had been planned to enter into force by April 2023, a year before the 2024 elections to the European Parliament, to be held on 6-9 June 2024 (see IRIS 2022-1/12). However, the legislative procedure moved slower than planned, and in February 2023, amendments were adopted by the parliament on...

In a decision of 3 February 2024 in case C-255/21 (Reti Televisive Italiane) concerning the interpretation of Article 23(2) of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) and the limits it imposes on broadcasting time for advertising, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that announcements promoting radio programmes shown on television channels belonging to the same broadcasting group do not, in principle, constitute promotion of the television broadcaster’s "own" programmes.  The decision followed supervisory measures taken by the Italian broadcasting...

On 7 February 2024, the Verwaltungsgericht Hannover (Hanover Administrative Court – VG Hannover) rejected an appeal by the television broadcaster RTL against a complaint lodged by the Niedersächsische Landesmedienanstalt (Lower Saxony state media authority – NLM). The complaint concerned an alleged breach of the requirement for clear visual separation of advertising and programme content during "split-screen" advertising broadcast during an RTL television programme. "Split-screen" advertising for a smartphone, in which editorial content and advertising were...

Recent years have witnessed a consistent deterioration in the sustainability of conventional business models of news media. Newspapers and audiovisual services have been facing a severe decrease in revenues from advertising due to the rise of new digital platforms competing in the advertising market, coupled with a decreased willingness to pay for news in light of the abundance of free news online. A general economic crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian aggression on Ukraine have exacerbated the situation. To be able to secure financial income in this context, news media need sustainable...

On 8 January 2024, the Dutch Media Authority (Commissariaat voor de Media, CvdM) issued a significant decision, imposing a fine on ESPN , a sports broadcaster, for numerous violations of the rules governing gambling advertising. This action follows the new legislation on gambling advertising coming into force in 2023 (see IRIS 2023-7/20) and previously in 2021 (see IRIS 2022-2/15). The CvdM stated that it attached “great importance” to compliance with these regulations, as they are designed to “protect minors”. Seeing advertising for gambling can lead to a “positive...