A TV ad for Sky has been banned for suggesting that the switchover to digital TV sets would be technologically complex if consumers did not sign up with the satellite broadcaster. The ASA said that because the ad pushed Sky+ as the way to “become digital” with BSkyB, whereas in fact it was not necessary […]

There is fierce opposition from medical groups, teaching unions and children’s charities to UK plans to allow products to be used in television programmes for marketing purposes for the first time. Critics claim placement will fuel childhood obesity, exacerbate the problems caused by alcohol and gambling, and distort storylines by rewarding programme makers for deliberately […]

The rise of video-on-demand viewing and online TV catch-up services will not kill the advertising-funded business models of traditional TV broadcasters over the next decade, according to a report by Enders Analysis. The research company said that despite the concern about viewing figures for watching TV via computers, 99 per cent of total viewing of […]

From Branislav Pekic in Rome The Italian Government is to limit advertising on all pay-TV broadcasters, including Sky Italia and Mediaset Premium. The decree, which has been prepared by Deputy Minister for Communications, Paolo Romani, could be approved by the Government today (December 17.) The draft foresees that the amount of hourly advertising on pay-TV […]

CBS said the fourth quarter was better than the preceding three quarters, buoyed by higher prices paid for advertising time sold closer to when TV programmes aired. Advertising pricing is up more than 25 per cent and, combined with more advertisements sold, CBS is expecting to add $100 million more in sales for 2009 than […]

Market research company Synovate has released the findings of its global advertising study, shedding light on which media are the most effective in targeting Americans and their daily media habits. According to the study, Americans can’t live without the Internet, want to see advertisements that are innovative, and are open to new technologies that monitor […]

mirada, the audiovisual content interaction specialist, has teamed up with Sky Italia to deliver interactive advertising applications. The new service will allow viewers on the Sky Italia platform to engage with adverts through a 'call to action' in the interactive menu and will allow brands to offer additional associated content or product information.

Google is banking on significant growth in online video ads as marketers become more sophisticated at targeting consumers interactively. “The one big shift in the next three to five years is going to be video advertising,” Nikesh Arora, president of global sales operations and business development, commented. “If you believe there’s a big consumer shift […]

Virgin Media has launched dynamic advertising on its on demand TV platform. Ads from brands including L’Oreal, Sony Ericsson, Kelloggs and Microsoft, will appear around on demand content from Living, Virgin1 and Bravo. Advertising will roll-out across Virgin Media's on demand TV service, currently in 3.7 million households, beginning with 300,000 homes from this month. […]

Archie Norman, the new chairman of ITV, is reportedly considering plans to charge for the broadcaster’s spin-off digital channels ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4. Despite Norman not joining the company until January, a number of reports hinted at the direction in which he is preparing to take ITV. 'City sources' told newspapers Norman believes it was […]