Currie hots up debate on ads self-regulation

Currie: thumbs up to self regulation

Lobbying from the industry for self-regulation of broadcast advertising has moved a stage further to succeeding, following a tentative thumbs-up from Ofcom chairman Lord Currie.

Speaking at the Advertising Association on Monday, he said Ofom recognised the need for a voluntary scheme similar to the  non-broadcast system used by the Advertising Standards Authority. And he also suggested that Ofcom's role would be to act as a co-regulator, to be used in the event of disputes within the industry.

He said: "Decisions on complaints would be a matter solely for the co-regulatory body. That is necessary to prevent double jeopardy for the broadcasters and to sustain the authority of the co-regulatory body."

However, there has been indifferent reaction to the initiative from agencies, despite the threat of increased levies from clients' through account deals if funding for a body were based upon the traditional ASA scheme. But both opposition parties agreed Lord Currie's remarks were "positive signs" for the industry.

Lord McNally, Liberal Democrat spokesman on media issues in the House of Lords, suggested the ASA take responsibility for the area, with co-regulatory oversight from Ofcom.

This article was first published on Media Week