Media & Marketing: For the first time, broadcasters are facing fines of up to €250,000 for breaching broadcasting regulations on advertising, news and current affairs quotas and Irish music.
For years, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) has been accused of having no teeth when it comes to sanctioning TV and radio stations who breach rules.
But according to a new broadcasting Bill published yesterday by the Minister for Communications, Noel Dempsey, breaches will be treated far more seriously in future. A new Broadcasting Authority of Ireland is to be set up to regulate broadcasting and it is this body that will ensure there is compliance in the sector. If there are reasonable grounds that a broadcaster has committed a breach an inquiry may be held, which will offer the broadcaster a chance to put its case.
However if a breach is established, monetary penalties of up to €250,000 will be imposed, regardless of whether the broadcaster is privately owned or a public service provider. The details of any fine will also be published.
At present, broadcasters are limited to the amount of advertising they can air each hour, but there have been breaches over the years and the BCI has threatened to withdraw station licences on occasion because of this. However, up to now the BCI has not been able to impose fines.
Fines of up to €250,000 are not insignificant in the context of the Irish radio and television industry. While the bigger media groups would probably be able to meet the Bill, it could have serious repercussions for smaller stations.
There was also concern raised about the impact on RTÉ compared with commercial stations. The Independent Broadcasters of Ireland last night said: "Imposing financial sanctions on RTÉ, who are ultimately funded by the taxpayer, is quite a different proposition to imposing financial sanctions on an independent broadcaster and this anomaly merits further investigation".
Last night, the organisation expressed its concern at another provision in the Bill concerning a new broadcasting levy.
The Bill suggests the industry should foot the bill for regulation via some type of levy. This is an old idea: previously, the industry had to pay a 3 per cent levy on turnover to support the BCI, but it was abolished.
David Tighe, chairman of the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland, said: "We view this as a surprising development in light of a decision by this Government just five years ago to abolish a 3 per cent levy on independent broadcasters, following the direct intervention of the Taoiseach".
The Bill also raises the issue of whether people accessing television services in future via a laptop or mobile phone will be required to have a TV licence.
The Bill raises the issue of designating certain devices or software programmes as television sets. This is being raised now because RTÉ is increasingly offering its services via streaming video on PCs. But finding a way to impose a licence fee on people accessing content in this way will be difficult, if not impossible.
The other major change will involve dissolving the RTÉ Authority and merging its functions into the new Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.
This will effectively mean RTÉ, which is investing major funds in new programmes like urban drama Legend, will be regulated by the new body. RTÉ will also become a company limited by guarantee. The company will be registered under the Companies Act 1963 to 2005.
Viewers bombarded
Irish people are exposed to 280 commercials per week, according to a new survey issued yesterday by Initiative, the Dublin-based agency. While this might seem like an oppressive level of media clutter, it pales into insignificance when compared to the UK and US. US viewers are exposed to 789 commercials per week, which is 62 per cent higher than the global average. The UK viewer is exposed to 311 commercials on average per week.
The concern about media clutter, especially on television, arises because many advertising executives believe that the law of diminishing returns kicks in once you target viewers with too many commercials.
According to Initiative, the impact can be "ill feeling towards advertising in general", reduces the chances anyone will remember the adverts and encourages "ad avoidance".
Ireland has the 36th highest level of what is called "media clutter" out of the 50 countries surveyed. Ireland's rates were on a par with Croatia, Germany and Estonia, but above Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland.
The high clutter levels in some countries can be explained by a lack of legislation limiting the amount of commercial advertising on television. Also the traditional 30 second spot ad is now being rivalled by shorter ad formats which mean viewers are bombarded by more, but shorter, commercials. All this clutter may be a thing of the past, however, as ad skipping is now comparatively easy with personal video recorders (PVRs) available in Irish shops. Sky Plus is just one example of this technology.
Chorus competitor
It looks like Chorus, the cable TV provider based in Munster, is facing a new competitor which originates in the community television sector. Southcoast Community Television is planning to offer a digital television service in the Munster area. The company is putting a €5 million investment behind the project and has 25 transmitters throughout the region to roll out the service. A new company is to be set up called SCTV Digital Plc to develop the project.
