UK Reconsiders Ban on Product Placements in TV Shows

Apparently, the British government is moving toward lifting a longstanding ban on product placements in TV shows on commercial networks, in a move that would aid the country's struggling commercial broadcasters. Ben Bradshaw, secretary of state for culture, media and sport, is expected to explain why he thinks the ban should be lifted in a speech to the Royal Television Society this week. The British Broadcasting Corp., whose TV networks in the U.K. don't air advertisements, will continue to ban product placements, or deals in which companies pay for a product to be included in a TV show. The product-placement market in Britain could be worth as much as £100 million ($166.7 million) a year, according to an estimate by ITV PLC and the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television in a December 2008 paper submitted to the culture ministry.