CRR will stay at ITV
September 16, 2009
Contract Rights Renewal, the rules which dictate how much ITV1 can charge advertisers, will stay for now says the Competition Commission. In its provisional report into CRR the watchdog has proposed “variations” which, for example, could allow ITV1 to capture more commercial impacts, such as rolling in high-definition and time-shifted channels into the definition of ITV1.
CRR was brought in to protect advertisers when Carlton and Granada merged to make ITV plc and the Commission says that though ITV's audience has declined significantly its ability to reach a mass audience remains unique and therefore buyers still need protection. CRR protects the number of impacts an advertiser must get for a set price. The inclusion of the other ITV channels means some of these can be achieved off the main channel freeing more time to be sold to other clients.