A new code controlling advertisements aimed at children will only cover Irish broadcasters leaving half the TV market outside its remit. Helen Shaw looks at the case for pan-European regulation
The Milky Bar kid might not make the cut under the proposed new children's advertisement code. For starters he would need a toothbrush symbol on the screen and he certainly could not make it look like having white chocolate bars makes you a hero, wins friends or increases your popularity. In the new era the kid would eat a balanced dinner, then have a bite of chocolate before brushing his teeth and heading to the gym.
Beyond cartoon characters pushing chocolate, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) children's advertising code is a serious attempt to grapple with the increased commercialisation of broadcast media - especially television - and its impact on children. It has had a long consultative process and tackles issues like violence, diet, and "pester power". Under the code celebrities cannot advertise food or drink for children and fast food will have a health warning.
The commission deserves credit for the code but the absence of European co-ordination undermines it and may risk advertising revenue, particularly on food products, moving to non-Irish broadcasters. While the UK is reviewing its children's code, due to concerns over childhood obesity, that process is just beginning. Equally the BCI's decision to define children as everyone under 18 could make the guidelines unworkable.
The subject has drawn battle lines with some, like the Green Party and the Children's Alliance, seeking a complete ban on advertising to children, while RTÉ is saying it may lose €2 million in revenue and the advertising industry has cried "nanny state". A nanny is exactly what some commentators say children need and no one disagrees on the need to protect young children but 18 seems extreme. While you vote at 18 you can work and marry before that. Nielsen, the TV viewers rating system, measures children's audiences as 4-14 years.
Across Europe there is no common definition of a child ranging from the Netherlands and Spain who opted for 12 years while France and Germany went for 14. In the UK it is 15, while Norway and Iceland went for 18.
Opting for 18 years makes it harder to separate children and adults in terms of programmes and advertisements since many prime-time shows are "family" ones with food and drink adverts. There is a strong argument to ban alcohol adverts and that might benefit young people more than this but again it needs co-ordination or beer adverts may move from one station to another.
The emotive issue of exploiting children colours this debate yet children use their consumer power every day with the remote control. While children in Ireland watch on average two and half hours of TV a day, half of what they watch is non-Irish TV stations. The BCI's remit is over RTÉ, TG4 and TV3 yet according to its research over 50 per cent of 4-14 years old during the week watch non-Irish channels, while at weekend this rises to 53 per cent.
Non-Irish channels includes the BBC, with a 7 per cent share, but stations like Sky One, MTV, Nickelodeon, E4 and UTV all carry advertisements. The vast majority of Irish homes have access to multi-channel, while a quarter now subscribe to Sky Digital with extensive satellite choices. Ireland now has the second highest penetration of satellite television in Europe and BSkyB is unregulated in Ireland. The way forward is for the European Commission to act on the need for EU-wide common broadcasting regulation.
In an environment where over half of the TV market is outside the State's regulation, the implementation of a strict code aimed at under 18 could undermine domestic TV revenue with young children seeing hard-sell adverts. The difficulty for the BCI is that it is a global media market which has turned children into primary school consumers through the mix they see and hear in both programming and advertisement.
The Swedish model where advertisement to children under 12 is banned is favoured by those seeking a ban, yet Sweden is also facing an external satellite TV challenge. Several other European countries impose bans around children's programmes including Austria and Norway, while others like Belgium and Denmark do not allow commercial breaks within children's programmes. If children are defined as under 12 it becomes easier both to implement and schedule restrictions because most children watch in daytime before 6 p.m. RTÉ has a voluntary ban on advertisements targeted at pre-school children and advertisements to under 12s is limited to two breaks in an hour.
The difficulty once you go beyond 12 is that older children form significant audiences of programmes like Eastenders, Coronation Street and Fair City and shows like Friends and Simpsons are often in the top five shows watched by 11-14-year-olds. Implementing a code based on whether half the audience is under 18, could see a programme's definition change day by day. So why worry? If it is a headache, it is a headache for big corporations, ad agencies and broadcasters. True, but advertisement revenue is the basis of any media business and without it small public broadcasters like RTÉ - in common with many others - cannot survive. Clear regulation benefits all. In this case a co-ordinated code within Europe would be good for both industry and consumers.
And that is the point. RTÉ will spend €11 million on children's programmes this year but only half on Irish-made material. TV3 does not make children's programmes. At a recent children's animation commissioning round for BBC and ITV, Irish independent producers complained that only TG4 made animation for children. Children's programmes suffer in the resources battle and we need as much debate on quality children's programming as on children's adverts. Children, whether we like it or not, are consumers. (The BCI's interactive website allows both adults and children to respond online before this final phase closes on May 17th.)
• Helen Shaw is managing director of Athena Media and a former director of RTÉ