TV product placement 'approved'

The BBC report here that ministers are set to allow "product placement", where firms pay to have their brands prominently showcased in popular programmes, for the first time on British television (with the exclusion of the BBC). Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw is expected to announce a three-month consultation on the changes in a speech to the Royal Television Society next week.

This is expected to bring in £100m of extra funding for commercial broadcasters. It has not only implications for placement, but also the creation of programming and editorial control. It also allows recoup of losses from the transformation of advertising based on an interrupt model to one that fits with contemporary audience media habits.