ITV at odds with Competition Commission over ad regulation

19th Jan 2010 11:58

Broadcaster ITV criticised a decision by the Competition Commission (CC) not to wholly abolish the current regulatory system for TV advertising.It said the Contract Rights Renewal (CRR) system, which gives advertisers the right to renew contracts with broadcasters without changing the terms, is a 'disproportionate remedy' that distorts the market and the relationship between advertisers and free-to-air broadcasters. 'CRR is now an outdated remedy and should be removed in its entirety,' said ITV.This brings the broadcaster into direct conflict with the CC, which said this morning that it intends to widen the definition of ITV1 to include an ITV1+1 service and an ITV1 high definition service.'This change will allow ITV to launch these new channels without being inadvertently penalized, as they would be under the current undertakings,' the CC said.ITV argues that the broadcast market has changed dramatically since 2003, when the CRR system was set up to prevent ITV abusing its dominance of the market.