Ever since Mark Thompson and Greg Dyke highlighted the role of personal video recorders in the year 2000, advertsiing publications have been full of fears about the end of spot advertising as viewers hurtle through the ad breaks - with the obvious conclusion that ad-funded TV is in decline and in future there will have to be more sponsored programming and product placement.
Wired points out that writers for US TV are now having to insert product references, and their unions are calling for a Code of Conduct.
Product Placement rules are to be revised in the new TV Without Frontiers Directive, and OFCOM is consulting on this.
Commercial TV programmes will be even more commercial - a good reason why we need the BBC to provide an alternative.
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