But the ban – last updated in 2003 – only applies to traditional television channels and not to streaming television delivered over the internet. With audiences increasingly switching off traditional broadcast channels, the UK’s big political parties are preparing to take advantage of the loophole and pay millions of pounds to insert themselves into living rooms.
Tom Edmonds, who ran digital advertising campaigns for the Conservatives in the 2010s, said politicians were desperate to pay to access screens. He said if British broadcasters did not run such ads, US tech companies would happily take the money. “You are going to see political ads on your TV. A lot of it will go on YouTube because you can get it in HD on your TV,” he added.
In the past, British political parties did not have enough money to buy campaign adverts. But Labour and the Conservatives are set to take advantage of a little-noticed rule change announced last year by Michael Gove, which will increase the amount national political parties can spend on a general election campaign from £19.5m in 2019 to £35m for the next general election.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
But they could soon yearn for the halcyon days of shampoo or insurance commercials after being presented with the faces of Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer.
ITV is considering taking paid ads from political parties for the first time during the upcoming general election thanks to a loophole in broadcasting law.
With audiences increasingly switching off traditional broadcast channels, the UK’s big political parties are preparing to take advantage of the loophole and pay millions of pounds to insert themselves into living rooms.
The media regulator Ofcom confirmed there was no legal ban on political campaigns buying adverts on video streaming services, meaning it is up to the individual streamers and broadcasters to choose their own policies.
One consideration is the high trust that the British public still have for traditional television broadcasters – and whether that would be hurt by taking political adverts.
At the time, the then Conservative culture secretary, Maria Miller, celebrated the court’s decision, saying it “ensures the political views broadcast into our homes are not determined by those with the deepest pockets”.
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