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Commercial communications

Commercial communications

ALIA ensures compliance with legal and regulatory provisions regarding the content, presentation, duration and insertion of commercial communications by service providers to preserve the integrity of the programmes.

This implies that audio-visual commercial communications must, among other things:

  • comply with the general principles applicable to the content
  • be free from illegal or harmful content
  • be clearly identifiable as such
  • respect the predefined duration limits
  • not exceed the maximum number of advertising interruptions

It is important to note that the rules differ depending on the type of services.

General rules

Any form of audio-visual commercial communication must 

  • be easily recognisable as such
  • not contain surreptitious audio-visual commercial communications
  • not use subliminal techniques
  • respect human dignity
  • not include or promote discrimination
  • not encourage behaviour that is harmful to health, safety or the environment

Commercial communications relating to the following items are forbidden 

  • cigarettes and other tobacco products
  • drugs and medical treatments that are only available by prescription

For the purposes of the protection of minors, audio-visual commercial communications must not cause physical, mental or moral harm to minors

  • by exploiting their inexperience or their gullibility to encourage them to buy certain products or to persuade their parents to do so
  • by presenting minors in dangerous situations without reason

Advertising for alcoholic beverages must not explicitly address minors or encourage the immoderate consumption thereof.

The audiovisual commercial communication takes notably the following forms:

Television advertising

Television advertising refers to any form of television message (for payment or other consideration) or any form of broadcasting for self-promotion purposes by a public or private company or by a natural person, with the aim of promoting the provision of goods or services for payment.

Teleshopping

Teleshopping refers to the dissemination of direct offers to the public for the provision of goods or services against payment.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship refers to any contribution by a public or private company or a natural person (active outside the audio-visual field, if any), to the financing of audio-visual media services and video sharing platform services or programmes, with the aim of promoting their name, their brand, their image, their activities or their products.

Product placement

Product placement refers to any form of audio-visual commercial communication consisting of including a product, a service or a brand as well as the reference to them in a television programme, against payment or other consideration.

Rules applicable to sponsorship and product placement - TV and VOD

Audio-visual programmes that are sponsored or that include product placement meet the following requirements:

  1. their content, their programming and their organisation (e.g., their grid or their catalogue), must not be influenced in such a way as to undermine the responsibility and editorial independence of the service provider
  2. they must not directly encourage the purchase or rental of goods or services
  3. spectators are clearly informed of the existence of a sponsorship agreement or a product placement (e.g., by means of a distinctive sign or an appropriate identification)

It should be noted that sponsorship and product placement in VOD services are not required to comply with the criteria established for commercial communications with regard to alcoholic beverages.

Sponsorship

Audio-visual media services or programmes may not be sponsored by companies whose main activity is the manufacture or sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products (including electronic cigarettes).

Sponsorship by companies whose activity is the sale or manufacture of drugs and medical treatments can promote the name or image of the company, but not specific drugs or medical treatments available only by prescription.

Television news and news programmes cannot be sponsored.

Product placement

Programmes do not unjustifiably highlight the product and do not involve placement:

  • of tobacco products or cigarettes or product placements from companies active in the manufacture or sale of these products ;
  • of specific drugs or medical treatments available only by prescription

Rules applicable only to television services

Please note that television services may be entirely dedicated to teleshopping and self-promotion and that advertising is allowed on these channels. The provisions relating to the insertion and duration of television advertising and teleshopping (see below) do not apply to these channels.

Insertion of television advertising and teleshopping

Television advertising and teleshopping:

  • must be easily recognisable
  • must be distinguished from the editorial content
  • must be clearly distinguished from the rest of the programme by optical, acoustic or spatial means
  • must not undermine the integrity of the programmes
  • cannot be inserted during the broadcast of religious services
  • must comply with specific criteria when they relate to alcoholic beverages.

Isolated television advertising and teleshopping spots are allowed during sports events. Outside sports events, such spots must be exceptional. Teleshopping about specific drugs and medical treatments is prohibited.

During the broadcast of films made for television (excluding series, soap operas and documentaries), of cinematographic works and television news, interruptions by television advertising and/or teleshopping are allowed only once per scheduled interval of at least 30 minutes.

Children’s programmes may be interrupted by television advertising once per scheduled interval of at least 30 minutes, provided that the planned duration of the programme is more than 30 minutes. The insertion of teleshopping sequences is prohibited.

 The duration of television advertising and teleshopping

The share of television advertisements and teleshopping spots broadcast between 6:00 and 18:00 and between 18:00 and 24:00 may not exceed 20 % of these periods.

In addition, teleshopping sequences must have a minimum uninterrupted duration of 15 minutes.

 

Rules applicable to radio services

Any form of advertising message for tobacco and tobacco products on Luxembourg radio services is prohibited.

The rules regarding commercial communications vary depending on the type of radio service:

  • the advertising messages broadcast by local radio services are limited to 6 minutes per hour of airtime on a daily average and to 8 minutes for any time slot. In addition, the airtime for advertising in local radio services may not exceed 10% per advertiser and the advertising revenues from said services may not exceed a threshold defined by a grand-ducal regulation
  • regional radio (broadcast network radio) services can include advertising messages provided that these do not exceed 6 minutes per hour on a daily average, or 8 minutes for any time slot on a weekly average excluding Sundays
  • radio services for socio-cultural purposes are free of advertising messages

Rules applicable to VSP providers

Providers of video sharing platforms take appropriate measures to protect minors or the general public from audio-visual commercial communications:

  • likely to impair the physical, mental or moral development of minors
  • involving an incitement to violence or hatred aimed at a group of people or a member of a group, based on one of the grounds protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
  • including content, the dissemination of which constitutes a criminal offense

Moreover, VSP providers comply with the rules applicable to audio-visual media services (see above) for audio-visual commercial communications that are the subject of promotional actions, are sold or are organised by said providers.

References