How exciting are the Government changes to product placement rules and will they boost the commercial TV sector?

Not very exciting at all. Even in largely unregulated markets like the US and Australia, product placement is not a big earner for broadcasters and outside of really big shows like ‘24’ or ‘American Idol’ represents a small fraction of income when compared to spot advertising. Shock horror: product placement will not save commercial TV.

How limiting and confusing will it be that certain product categories will be excluded?

It’s not very surprising that certain categories have been excluded and I don’t think advertisers would have expected every product to be permissible. There is a broader philosophical question as to why certain categories are allowable as spot advertisements but not as product placement categories but UK advertising rules have long been contradictory and confusing so this is just another one to add to the list. [...]

etv media group celebrates 10 years of strong business growth with the launch of its first international offices in Sydney, Australia.
Co-founder and Australian national, Adrian Swift, will be heading up the new offices. Huge structural changes in the Australian market, such as the National Broadband Network, the boom in online video and the popularity of the Free-To-Air networks digital multi channels make now the perfect time for etv to enter this market.

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etv productions has been commissioned by global superstars, Spandau Ballet, to produce a concert film of their ‘Reformation’ 2009 tour at the O2 Arena London, as well as an exclusive behind-the-scenes documentary to be distributed and broadcast worldwide.
The Spandau Ballet concert will initially be post-produced into a two hour film, which is due to be released on DVD in the UK by Universal Pictures on 30th November 2009. The package will then be marketed worldwide for broadcast and other media platforms. [...]