Written by Colin Donald
Posted Wednesday, 11 June 2008 at 01:56 PM
Has the British government just given UK Internet TV shows a financial boost?
Making a shock announcement today, culture secretary Andy Burnham has said that the government will not accept an EU directive to permit product placement on broadcast television.
In his first major speech on broadcasting, Burnham set out the case against product integration:
"There is a risk that product placement exacerbates this decline in trust [in television] and contaminates our programmes."
Although the government will still consult on the issue, this is a significant reversal for commercial broadcasters and advertisers.
For online television, however, it looks to be good news. Product integration is well-established in Web series such as the successful trendspotting show Bite (pictured) by Channel 4, Ogilvy and MindShare for Ford, now in its second season, as blogged by Ogilvy.
There is nothing in Burnham's speech to suggest that he intends at present to extend the ban from broadcast television to the Internet.*
So if the advertisers can't go on television, that leaves the Net as the only video option.
Update: Looks like the City is unhappy about how this will play out for ITV - it's cut 3% off the share price.
* However, as we have pointed out in a letter to the FT, there is an unresolved, long-term contradication in Burnham's policy proposals.
He is keeping the placement ban for TV and is also aiming to begin regulating online video. The logic of this would eventually be to ban placement in Web shows, too.
Yet Burnham also has a remit to support the UK’s creative industries. Extending the ban to Internet shows would seriously damage a fast-developing sector.
The minister needs to explain his reasoning. In which ways is online video similar to broadcast television and therefore to be regulated – and in which ways is it different and to be left alone?
And more debate on this at Guardian Media and PaidContent.
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