TV Channels to Reduce Movie Showing
// If Russian advertising legislation is adjusted to European Convention
Russia’s TV-advertising market faces new restrictions. The Ministry of Culture and the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) are working out a draft bill which will adjust advertising legislation of Russia to the European Convention on Trans-Border Television. So that it can be ratified by 2009-2010, it is necessary to limit the amount of advertising on TV and to restrict ads’ interruption of movies. TV channels might respond by an abrupt reduction of showing films in prime-time.
Russia is working on adjusting its advertising legislation to the European convention. A new law “About advertising” came into force in July 2006. In some aspects, it is even stricter than the convention. Thus, European law differentiates between TV ads and TV shops. It gives 15 percent of a channel’s 24-hour’s broadcasting to ads, and 5 percent to TV shops.
One of the authors of the new Russian law Vladimir Medinsky approves of imposing a 20-minute break between blocks of ads, but doubts whether stricter limitations are necessary: “It is certainly in the interests of TV audience, but it might negatively affect the profits of TV channels. Consequently, the audience might suffer.”
Advertising agencies are not yet considering the pros and cons of Russia’s ratifying the convention.
Sergei Sobolev, Yulia Kulikova
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 30, 2007
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