(An article by Mary Ann Ll. Reyes Updated July 22, 2008 12:00 AM from the Business section of Philstar.com and annotations by lakingmcdo from ABS-CBN Forum)
Publicly-listed GMA Network will return to the fold of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) only if the latter stops regulating the broadcasting industry, emphasizing that KBP’s 18-minute per hour advertising load limit is unconstitutional.
GMA chairman, president and CEO Felipe Gozon said KBP’s regulatory function only duplicates the role of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), the Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA) and the Advertising Board of the Philippines (AdBoard).
GMA withdrew its KBP membership in 2003 after clashing with the body over certain policy matters, including KBP’s implementation of an 18-minute per hour limit on the advertisement load that KBP members can carry. “In fact, we became number one without KBP,” Gozon said.
While he confirmed that KBP has invited GMA to return to its fold, he said this will only happen if KBP gives up its regulatory function. “I told them that KBP should instead promote and advance the common interest of the members and should stop regulating. It is not their business to regulate. In fact, we have been more strict than their Code of Ethics. It’s different if its voluntary,” he stressed.
He emphasized that the 18-minute advertising load limit has no basis and other countries recognize higher limits. “I am more in favor of a self-imposed 20 to 21 minute load limit. The load does not affect the impact of advertising on the viewers.”
GMA’s top official also stressed that the limitation is unconstitutional as it promotes monopolies and combinations in restraint of trade.
He cited the case of the US National Association of Broadcasters which imposed an advertising load limit. The US Justice Department said the limit is in violation of the Sherman or Anti-Trust Law.
But according to KBP president Maloli Espinosa, the 18-minute rule will benefit not only the public but the advertisers as well since the strict implementation of the rule will prevent advertising clutter and promote lesser but better advertisements.
Annotations:
The statements indicated in the first (yellow) highlighted paragraph is erroneous especially with GMA's claim that the 18-minute advertising load limit per hour is unconstitutional. Indeed, the rule is not included in the Philippine Constitution but it is clearly stipulated in the by-laws and regulations of PANA, AdBoard and KBP.
The statement of GMA Network in the second highlighted paragraph stating that the 18-minute advertising load limit has no basis and other countries recognize higher limits is baseless. In fact, other countries imposes a shorter time for advertising. The whole of Europe and Australia imposes that there should only be 12 minutes of advertising for every hour of broad while the United States allows only 16 minutes and extends up to 21 minutes of advertising only in special events where sponsors are needed. The longest advertising load limit on record is that of the Philippines which allows 18 minutes of commercials per hour of broadcast.
In fact, according to content analysis of the two leading networks' programs conducted by students of De La Salle University, GMA & has an average commercial load of 30 minutes per hour.
According to Emily Abrera (regional chairman of the New York based advertising agency McCann World), the local advertising industry has prescribed a limit of 18 minutes of commercials per hour of broadcast, which is already the highest in the region. In other Asian countries, TV ads are limited to between 12 and 14 minutes per hour.
Sources:
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