Following Ofcom’s Final Statement on HFSS Food Advertising, Michiel Bakker, Chief Executive, Viacom Networks UK, commented:
“We remain disappointed that Ofcom has ultimately included 10-15 year olds in their ban on HFSS food advertising. We continue to believe it is a disproportionate response based on insufficient and inconclusive research regarding the effect on this age group. Furthermore we also remain very concerned about the potential impact of extending this ban to include channels transmitted to countries outside the UK and what this could mean both for our business and the UK’s ability to attract pan-national broadcasters to base their operations here.”
“Given the small window of opportunity to respond before Christmas we are however pleased that Ofcom has taken on board two of the key recommendations from our submission. First, delaying the introduction of the ban for 10-15s until January 2008 and secondly giving us the flexibility in how to apply the ban across our schedules.”
“However now that the decision is final, we will take the necessary steps to implement it across our channels.”