Bakom takes action against surreptitious advertising

The Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) has opened supervisory proceedings against surreptitious advertising against 18 TV stations. This year, ten national and regional-language stations and 13 local stations were inspected, resulting in a total of 18 supervisory proceedings being initiated, reports the SDA news agency. As Bakom announced at the annual media conference in Biel on Wednesday, Viva Schweiz, U1 TV, Ticino television TSI and Tele Tell remain without proceedings. The evaluation of another local broadcaster is still in progress. A total of 2800 minutes of broadcasting time were screened, which corresponds to just under 47 hours. 1500 minutes were allocated to the national and regional language stations, 1300 minutes to the 13 local stations. Two to three broadcasting formats were selected per station, of which two to four broadcasts were checked. The broadcasts were checked for compliance with the regulations on advertising and sponsorship. The inspectors paid particular attention to advertising in editorial programs, as this can mislead the audience and commercial influences cannot be ruled out in program design, the press release continues. Half of the proceedings relate to surreptitious advertising in the narrower sense, while the majority of the others concern the lack of and inadequate declaration of sponsors. At the press conference, Bakom Director Martin spoke of a delicate development. The tendency to mix editorial contributions and advertising, which has been noticeable for several years, continues.